8A Vocab Week 5

bedraggled

• Adjective

• Wet and filthy, as though having been dragged through mud

• “Jack looked bedraggled because he was caught in a rainstorm while walking to school.”

cryptic

• Adjective

• Having a hidden or secret meaning

• “Few people understood the witch's cryptic messages.”

ebb

• Verb - To flow or fall back (like the tide)• “The company nearly went bankrupt when demand

for the product ebbed.”

• Noun - a period of decline• “An ebb in viewer interest caused the network to

cancel the once-popular show.”

fanatic

• Noun - one who has excess devotion to and enthusiasm for a cause or idea

• “The fanatics camped in front of the ticket booth for two days in order to get the best seats at the concert.”

• Adjective - showing excess devotion or enthusiasm for a cause or idea.

• “He regretted his fanatic devotion to his career after finding himself old and alone.”

haphazard

• Adjective

• Dependent upon chance, lacking any definite plan

• “The safety inspector said that the factory’s haphazard operation made it a dangerous place to work.”

illuminate

• Verb

• 1. To brighten with light• 2. To make clear; to rid of confusion

• “The psychologist illuminated some possible reasons for the young man’s disruptive behavior.”

legacy

• Noun

• something handed down from ancestors or history

• “The current generation enjoys the legacy set forth by the nation’s founders.”

maim

• Verb

• To disable or disfigure

• “A bull maimed a rider in a terrible rodeo accident.”

perceptive

• Adjective

• Extremely attentive to sensory input; keen

• “The perceptive NSA agent finds hidden codes in seemingly ordinary messages.”

repudiate

• Verb

• To reject as untrue

• “The state had to drop the case when their star witness repudiated his previous admission.”