Vocabulary

1. Week of May 23rd, 2011 Vocabulary -Rupal Nayi

2. Perfunctory - adj. - automatic, unthinking As Bob walked around after being dumped by his girlfriend, his mind was in a perfunctory state, being completely zoned out of the world and showing such sorrow and sadness.

3. Meticulous - adj. – taking or showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough. Amy, who didn’t like anything uneven and cared who cared most for small details, very meticulously set up her picture frame using her tool, making sure it was perfectly in place next to the other frames.

4. Lament • v. – to express grief or regret. • - n. – a feeling, song, or poem expressing sorrow. It had only been two weeks since Julie got married to her charming husband Mike, but tragically he got into a car accident in which all passengers passed away, leaving poor Julie lamenting his death day after day.

5. Paraphernalia • n. – furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity; equipment. There was special paraphernalia needed to fix the car, some tools that were a lot more complex and professional than a simple screw diver and hammer, that would have the car sounding brand new.

6. Despotic • adj. - dictatorial We walked towards a building, when suddenly a whistle is blown, and not just a normal whistle, but the one that warned everyone that the leader is approaching nearby, so we all stopped, formed a line, and saluted to our despoticleader.

7. Tangible • adj. – real, concrete. Recently, there was a case of a murder of a 25-year-old woman that had no witnesses or evidence, but their best and tangible evidence came along when investigators found fingerprints all over her jacket that did not match to be hers.

8. Sensuous • adj. – gratifying to senses. After such a long day at work, organizing files and answering phone calls all day, the only thing that would make me feel better is a nice, relaxing, and sensuous massage.

9. Prima Donna • adj. – indicating the most important performer or role, the lead; someone with the qualities of a diva. Hayley Williams, known best from the music band Paramore, is a great example of a prima donna because of her lead singing in the group songs, her style, and her personality.

10. Garrulous • adj. – talkative, wordy, excessively talkative. Jane, who was known as the class’ girly-girl, could talk for hours on the phone, at times becoming too garrulous, to the point where all one can hear her saying is “Blah, blah, blah!”

11. Syntax • n. – the way in which words are arranged. Amanda, who always had difficulty speaking, has started to improve, as before her problem was her syntax, which has not been exceeded and improved in such an astounding way.

12. Sagacity • n. – wisdom. Mr. Tom, an well respected, elder history teacher that I have, shows a lot of sagacity when teaching because of his many life experiences that he has had which are several that include being in the army and living during a few wars.

13. Ravenous • adj. – extremely hungry, famished; extremely rapacious; eager for gratification or satisfaction. After the long day, John, who was a fine business man, was feeling ravenous, but noticed his wife wasn’t home to cook anything, so he desperately looked for something in the refrigerator to eat until his wife came home.

14. Parsimonious • adj. – frugal or stingy, tightfisted, penny-pinching. Hilary, the daughter of a very rich lawyer, always shopped and begged for money from her father, but one day, he got angry at how parsimonious she was that he kicked her out of the house.

15. Virulent • adj. – highly deadly. To climb the Himalayas in the middle of January when winter is at its peak, isn’t the easiest thing to do and can be extremely virulent, but for a group of travelers that have been to the most dangerous places in the world, it is a mere routine.