Vocabulary List #3

Accolade- any award, honor, or laudatory notice

• The prestigious university was awarded accolades for their excellent science department.

Acerbity- sourness or acidness of taste, character, or tone.

•  The old man's acerbity flared when he found his house covered in toilet paper.

Attrition- a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength.

• After the 2010 graduating class, the attrition of the school band was horrifying. 

Bromide- A person who is platitudinous and boring

• The bromide chemistry teacher never went beyond teaching his students basic chemistry and allowing them only fundamental experiments.

Chauvinist- A person who is prejudice in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind.

• The time of the Civil Rights Movement was a chauvinistic time for white Americans.

Chronic- habitual

• Many people say that marijuana is a gateway drug to the more chronic drugs like meth and heroine.

Expound- to set forth or state in detail

• The speech was expounded in such detail that it left the audience both astounded and weary.

Factionalism- of a faction or factions

• The US government has adapted factionalism into the country.

Immaculate- free from fault or flaw

•  In paradise, it is said that one can regulate self-hate and immaculate wealth.

Imprecation-  the act of cursing

• The witches imprecation of the voodoo doll paranoid the victim beyond survival.

Ineluctable- incapable of being evaded.

• The ineluctable fate of speaking in front of an audience haunts many people.

Mercurial- animated; lively

• The mercurial dog tackled everyone the moment he saw strangers.

Palliate- to relieve or lessen without curing

• The ice pack palliated the injury the football player was victim to.

Protocol- the customs and regulations dealing with diplomaticformality, precedence, and etiquette

• The military protocol called for proper respect to the king's son as he was drafted into the military.

Resplendent- shining brilliantly; splendid

• The resplendent meteor shower this year was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Stigmatize- to set some mark of disgrace or infamy

•  Darwin was stigmatized by the Christian community because of his ideas.

Sub rosa- secretly; privately

• The practice was held sub rosa because the coach did not want outsiders to know the plans.

Vainglory- excessive elation or pride

• Many civilians viewed the prince of having too much vainglory.

Vestige- a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence

•  The vestige of the dinosaurs are only contained in the collected bones.

Volition- the act of resolving, choosing, or resolving

• The volition of President Bush to engage Iraq in war is widely hated by the people of the United States.