3rd Round of Words

Cogent: convincing; reasonable
In debate one has to make cogent arguments in order to win the debate.

Didactic: intended to instruct
The kindergarten teacher plays didactic cd’s for her students so that the children can learn their abc’s faster.

Coherent: logically connected
The arguments the lawyer gave were very coherent and this saved his client from serving twenty years in prison.

Cohesive: condition of sticking together

Eloquence: the ability to speak vividly or persuasively
It is important for the president of the united states to master eloquence, since he is going to be required to give speeches in front of large crowds.

Integrity: trustworthiness; completeness
Her integrity was questioned when they discovered that she had previously committed a crime.

Fluid:

Patronizing: treating in a condescending manner
Since he is extremely intelligent, he has a patronizing manner that makes him treat people as if they were dumb.

Despotic: exercising absolute power; tyrannical
The despotic king, Henry VIII, many times ordered the execution of others, including his wife.

Opulent: exhibiting a display of great wealth
The pharaohs were always opulent because they liked showing the great power they had.

Poignant: profoundly moving; touching
The best and most poignant part of the book was when the lovers were finally able to be together, even when this meant that they were together in heaven.

Frenetic: wildly excited or active
The frenetic crowd was cheering when their favorite soccer player scored a goal.


Ebullience: intense enthusiasm
Everyone has been over taken by a sense of ebullience because we are going to college.


Flagrant: extremely or deliberately shocking or noticeable
The boy was flagrantly mean, especially when he took the smaller children’s lunch money.

Reclamation: the act of making something useful again
Recycling paper is a very important project because we the reclamation of paper allows us to use the paper again.

Spurious: not genuine
Although the pearl seemed to be derived straight from the sea, it was spurious and had in fact been at the dollar store.

Slander: false charges and malicious oral statements about someone
Since nobody liked him, they slandered him until many people believed the horrible rumors that they had made up about him.

Stratagem: a clever tick used to deceive or outwit

Ruse: a crafty tick
The home owners invited their friends over for tea and cookies, little did their friends know that this was just a ruse to attempt to sell the house at the best price.

Whimsical: subject to erratic behavior; unpredictable


Spontaneous: unplanned; naturally occurring

Sanction: an economic or military measure put in place to punish another country
After the United States got into an argument with Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez, he put a sanction on the U.S. to give them no oil.

Impinge:hinder;interfere By not letting her daughter go to ballet class, the mother was impinging with her daughter’s dreams.

Anthology: a collection of literary pieces
Stephanie Meyer has an anthology the first one which is called Twilight.

Eclectic: made up of a variety of sources or styles
Maria’s eclectic sense of style makes her one of the most popular girls in school. Everyday she wears a different style of clothing.

Excerpt: a selected part of a passage or scene
When writing an analytical essay, Susan tells us to focus on excerpts of the novel to support our point of view.

Incorrigible: unable to be reformed
Although the boy had been sent to prison five times, he was incorrigible and wouldn’t stop stealing.

Staid: unemotional; serious
People who don’t know me sometimes think that I am staid because I am very reserved and hardly ever show any emotion about anything.

Serene: Calm
The lake was so still and serene that it gave the impression that no marine life lived there.

Stoic: indifferent to pleasure or pain; impassive
After enduring many hardships, Jane was stoic and no longer cared about the daily challenges of life.

Vilify: to make vicious statements about
The republicans made advertisements that only vilified the democrats.

Fractious: Quarrelsome; unruly
The fractious child always disagreed with his mom, especially when it involved going to school.

Brusque: rudely abrupt
The boy had no manners and was always brusque when addressing others, especially adults.

Ingrate: an ungrateful person
Since her mom always buys her everything she desires, she is an ingrate who has never learned the true value of things.

Insolent: insulting in manner or speech
The insolent manner in which he spoke to his teachers, got the boy into a lot of trouble.

Notorious: known widely and usually unfavorably; infamous
Hitler was a notorious leader who is known for the Holocaust.

Pugnacious: combative; belligerent
The boy’s surroundings made him gain a defensive and pugnacious attitude that involved fighting with everyone.

Brittle: easily broken when subjected to pressure
When we get old, our skin gets wrinkly and our bones become brittle.

Heinous: hatefully evil; abominable
Jack the Ripper is perhaps considered one of the most heinous murdurers due to the cruelty with which he killed his victims.

Enmity: mutual hatred or ill-will
The enmity that exists between the democrats and the republicans keeps them from correctly running the country.

Putrid: rotten
Since it was covered in brown, the apple was obviously putrid.

Medieval: referring to the middle ages; old fashioned
The castle was from medieval times and was home the may royal families that had once the country.

Obsolete: no longer in use; old fashioned
Although vcrs were being used ten years ago, they have now become obsolete and are currently replaced by dvds.

Austere: without decoration; strict
The insane assylum was kept austere in order to prevent the patients from falling into any type of depression.

Ponderous: extremely dull
After following the same routine every day for six years, life becomes ponderous.

Apprehension: anxiety or fear about the future
The senior class expressed their apprehension regarding life after Chinquapin.

Ominous: menacing; threatening
The smoke coming out of the car was an ominous matter that had to be fixed as soon as possible.

Timorous: timid; fearful about the future
Since my parents have always taken care of me, I was timorous about going away to college and having to learn how to take care of myself.

Candor: sincerity; openness
The girl’s candor made everyone love her for showing her true identity.

Frank: open and sincere in expression; straightforward
The boy’s frankness made his thoughts and opinions visible to everyone in the room.

Novice: a beginner
Since this is my first year on the debate team, I have to participate in novice debate until my second year.

Naïve: lacking sophistication
It was naïve of her to believe that she could learn how to play the piano in one day.

Innovative: introducing something new
Apple has to be innovative in order to encourage people to keep buying their products such as ipods, cellphones, etc.

Arid: describing a dry, rainless climate
Although there are some states that are very humid, New Mexico has a very arid climate.

Conflagration: a wide spread fire
Due to the high temperatures, a conflagration developed in the forests of California.

Ample: describing a large amount of something
In order to wash your hands correctly, you have use an ample amount of soap to remove any bacteria from your hands.

Copious: plentiful; having a large quantity
Since Bill Gates has a copious amount of money, he decides to give some of it away to charity.

Replete: abundantly supplied; filled to capacity
Since she saved every single penny in her piggy bank, at the end of the month the piggy bank was replete of pennies and she finally able to break it.

Exemplary: commendable; worthy of imitation
Since he had developed an exemplary high school career, he was awarded five scholarships.

Facile: done or achieved with little effort; easy
Although fixing books was a facile job, one gets bored after doing the job for three days.

Syllogism: a form of deductive reasoning; a major premise; a minor premise; and a conclusion

Sardonic: ironically humorous; harsh, bitter, or caustic
Although Maria was joking, her sardonic attitude made Mary feel sad.

Propitious: presenting favorable circumstances; auspicious
Some people believe that walking under a ladder doesn’t present propitious circumstances.

Phenomenon: an unusual, observable event
Ghosts are described as being a paranormal phenomenon.

Anachronism: something out of place in time or sequence
Archetype: a perfect example; an original pattern
Since the events in the movie were out of order, the reviews described it as an archetype of anachronism.

Gesticulating: making gestures while speaking
The speaker’s gesticulating movements made everyone in the crowd get distracted and not pay attention to his speech.

Paramount: the chief concern or importance
Although there were many events that made Michael sad, the death of his hamster was the paramount of his sadness.

Fastidious: processing careful attention to detail; difficult to please
The fastidious attitude she portrayed, made many people dislike her.

Meticulous: extremely careful and precise
Heart surgeons have to be very meticulous when performing surgery on patient because any little mistake could mean death.

Hierarchy: a group organized by rank
The military is composed of a hierarchy in which the higher you go, the more power you have.

Idealize: to consider perfect
Karen idealized Beyonce because she thought the celebrity had no imperfections.

Venerated: highly respected
Mother Teresa was and still is venerated for her compassionate work in helping the poor.

Solvent: able to pay one’s debts
After finding a high paying job, John became solvent.

Comprehensive: large in scope or content
The family pack of Doritos was comprehensive because it is made to feed many people.

Novel: strikingly new or unusual
The fashion designer’s novel collection was a major success during the fashion show in Paris.

Malfeasance: wrongdoing, misconduct
In The Crucible, Tituba was accused of malfeasance because she was from a foreign country.

Deleterious: having a harmful effect; injurious
Drinking too much soda can have a deleterious consequence on one’s health.

Equanimity: the quality of being calm and even-tempered; composure
After raising five buys, the mother showed great equanimity when taking care of the crying baby.

Caustic: bitingly sarcastic or witty
The caustic attitude in which he expressed himself, made him appear very arrogant.

Dilettante: one with an amateurish or superficial understanding of knowledge
Although she believe she knew everything about statistics, she was only a dilettante who had joined the class two weeks ago.

Genre: describing a category or artistic endeavor
Watching a horror movie is out of the question, that’s why the young girl watched every other type of genre except for horror movies.

Innate: possessed from birth; inborn
Mother Teresa’s innate behavior was to help those who were less fortunate than her.

Assimilation: to absorb; to make similar
The United States is composed of an assimilation of cultures due to the many different people that have emigrated to the country.

Consensus: general agreement
After much argument, congress came to a consensus and decided to pass the bill.

Tenacity: persistence
In order to be successful, one has to not only work hard but also show tenacity in order to accomplish one’s goals.

Dogmatic: stubbornly adhering to unproved beliefs
John was dogmatic when it came to ghost myths.

Malleable: easily shaped or formed; easily influenced
People who don’t have their priorities set straight tend to be very malleable.

Arbitrary: determined by impulse rather than reason
Sometimes parents can be very arbitrary and offer no reason to why they won’t let you drive to at night.

Whimsical: subject to erratic behavior; unpredictable
The boy had always been described as being whimsical because he was always changing his mind so no one ever knew how we respond to certain situations.

Coup: a brilliantly executed plan
Although Hitler was an infamous and cruel leader, he had a coup to execute the Jews living in Europe.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism: a large picture painted or affixed directly on a wall or ceiling

Susan always reminds us that we always have to cite our sources because otherwise it is considered plagiarism.

Mural

Mural: a large picture painted or affixed directly on a wall or ceiling

In Argentina there was a city named San Telmo which was known for its calm and artistic environment. This city had colorful murals surrounding every corner of the city.

Melancholy & Lament

Melancholy: a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged; depression
Lament: to feel or express sorrow or regret for

The melancholy she felt when her husband died was unblearble. She lamented his death until the day she died.

Truncated

Truncated: shortened by or as if by having a part cut off; cut short

She felt her dream had been truncated by the fact that she didn't get accepted to the college of her dreams.

Cordial

Cordial: courteous and gracious; friendly; warm

The young lady was very cordial, especially when meeting new people.

Amenable

Amenable: ready or willing to answer, act, agree, or yield; open to influence, persuasion, or advice

In Atonement Briony tells her brothers to make themselves aminable when they are practicing for the play Briony has created.

Transitory

Transitory: not lasting, enduring, permanent, or eternal

Since the red car broke down, the rental of the blue car was transitory until the red car was fixed again.

Proximity

Proximity: nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, or relation

The proximity of graduation makes me happy and scared at the same time.

Omnipotent

Omnipotent: having very great or unlimited authority or power

God is described as being omnipotent because he has unlimited power.

Emigrate

Emigrate: to leave one country or region to settle in another

My parents emigrated from Mexico to the United States in order to seek better opportunities.

Narrative

Narrative: a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious

The author's narrative of his life was extremely sad and made many readers cry.

Parody

Parody: a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing

The young comedian's parody made everyone cry of laughter.

Malice & Toxic

Malice: desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness
Toxic:of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or poison

In Orphan, the woman's malice motivated her to put toxic chemicals in the nun's drink.

Profound

Profound: penetrating or entering deeply into subjects of thought or knowledge; having deep insight or understanding

The psychologist's profound way of thinking allowed her to understand why her patients were acting they were.

Misconception

Misconception: an erroneous conception; mistaken notion

A common misconception is that corn is a vegetable when in fact corn is a fruit.

Intuition

Intuition: direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension

The woman's intution told her that she had finally found the love of her life.

Impression

Impression: the first and immediate effect of an experience or perception upon the mind; sensation.

The girl made a good impression during her interview and was therefore given the job.

Conception

Conception: fertilization; inception of pregnancy

After conception, it takes nine months for the fetus to develop completely and be ready for birth.

Acquired

Acquired: to come into possession or ownership

After several experiments, the scientist acquired the knowledge necessary to start developing the cure for cancer.

Derived & Context

Derived:to receive or obtain from a source or origin
Context: the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect

Marixa had to derive information from the context of the problem in order to find the answer.

Assiduous

Assiduous: constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task

Although Marixa was tired, her assiduous attitude toward school earned her good grades.

Obdurate

Obdurate: unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding

The thief was an obdurate man who didn't care if he stole the only thing of value that the poor family posessed.

Inevitable

Inevitable: unable to be avoided, evaded, or escaped; certain; necessary

It is inevitable for the student to fail the course if he doesn;t do his homework and never pays attention in class.

Intrepid

Intrepid: resolutely fearless; dauntless

The intrepid child went into the dark room by himself to fight the monster his imagination had created.

Compelling

Compelling: tending to compel; overpowering

After finding the man's fingerprints on the gun, the judge had compelling evidence to conclude that he was guilty.

Superficial

Superficial: concerned with or comprehending only what is on the surface or obvious

The superficial poet had no luck selling her book of poems because the poems seemed so unreal and fake.

Proliferate

Proliferate: to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively

Santa's elves had to proliferate the number of toys because Christmas was getting closer.

Ambiguous

Ambiguous: open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations

The teacher had an ambiguous way of teaching which made many students fail the course.

Endure

Endure: to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo

One day I was playing outside when suddenly I fell and broke my arm. I had to endure the pain I felt for not being able to play outside until I got better.

Inconsequential

Inconsequential: of little or no importance; insignificant; trivial

The student didn't study for the test because he thought it was an inconsequential part of his grade.

Trivial

Trivial: of very little importance or value

I tend to always worry about trivial matters which causes my hair to fall out.

Diligent

Diligent: constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything


The diligent student always stays up late to get a 100 on his tests.

Listless

Listless: having or showing little or no interest in anything; languid

The boy's listless behavior made his parents worry about his pychological wellbeing.

Haughty

Haughty: disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant

The girl's haughty behavior made her classmates dislike her.

Arbiter

Arbiter: a person empowered to decide matters at issue

The arbiter decided that there was substantial evidence to conclude that the man was guilty of theft.

Lucid

Lucid: easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible

Since the student had a timeline to guide his audience, his history presentation was very lucid.

Egregious

Egregious: extraordinary in some bad way; glaring

The boy was known for being an egregious liar because he would always lie to his mom about not cleaning his room.

Clarity

Clarity: clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding

The clarity with which the teacher taught made it easy for everyone to understand what he expected the class to know for the exam.

Astute

Astute: clever; cunning; ingenious; shrewd

The child's astute charcater helped him figure out where his teacher had hidden the candies.

Benevolent

Benevolent: desiring to help others; charitable

Mother Teresa's benevolent heart encouraged her to help those who were less fortunate than her.

Alleviate

Alleviate: to make easier to endure; lessen; mitigate

In order to alleviate the pain she felt from her heartbreak, she seeked refuge in her hobbies.

Florid

Florid: flowery; excessively ornate; showy

The dress' florid pattern made it perfect to wear in the spring.

Ostentatious & Effusive

Ostentatious: characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others
Effusive: pouring out; overflowing

The young boy was attracted to the girl's ostenatious attitude and effusive smile.

Torpor

Torpor: sluggish inactivity or inertia

The soccer player's torpor was seen on the field when he refused to run for the ball.

Insipid

Insipid: without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid

The girl was insipid even when she tried to disguise by wearing beautiful clothes and make-up.

Convoluted & Quandary

Convoluted: complicated; intricately involved
Quandary: a state of perplexity or uncertainty, esp. as to what to do; dilemma

Life is convoluted and in order to succeed, one has to learn how to deal with the quandaries that we have to face each day.

Dictatorial & Imperious

Dictatorial: of or pertaining to a dictator or dictatorship
Imperious: domineering in a haughty manner; dictatorial; overbearing

Cuba's dictatorial governement keeps every aspect of its citizen's life strictly monitored. This imperious lifestyle encourages many to flee from their own country.

Exculpate & Integrity

Exculpate: to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate
Integrity: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty

The young man's integrity was cleared when the real criminal was found. He was finally exculpated from the crime he had been unfairly charged with.

Fabricated & Hypocrisy

Fabricated: to devise or invent
Hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess

The girl's hypocrisy led many to believe that she was nothing but a fabricated character.

Alienated & Obscure

Alienated: to turn away; transfer or divert
Obscure: lacking in light or illumination; dark; dim; murky

The boy led a sorrowful and obscure life after he alienated himself from his family and friends.

Implication

Implication: something implied or suggested as naturally to be inferred or understood

The teacher's suggestion to search her backpack led to the implication that he thought she was the thief.

Benign

Benign:showing or expressive of gentleness or kindness

The girl's benign actions were portrayed as being evil because she was too shy to her new classmates.

Biased

Biased: having or showing bias or prejudice

The judge's biased opinion prevented her from being fair to the accused.