7/28/2019 Words of the Day - Fourth Quarter

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Words of the Day4th Quarter

April 11, 2013June 11, 20134/11 bon vivant (n.) one who enjoys good food and other pleasant things4/12 par excellence (adj.) in the greatest degree of excellence

4/15 pice de rsistance (n.) the principal dish of a meal; the main item or event in a

series4/16 quid pro quo (n.) one thing in return for another4/17 savoir faire (n.) a ready knowledge of what to do or say; tact

4/18 vis--vis (n.) a person or thing that is face to face with another; opposite; in

in reference to4/19 bucolic (adj.) rural; rustic; pastoral

4/22 crotchety (adj.) full of peculiar whims; ill-tempered; eccentric4/23 disconsolate (adj.) sad; dejected; cheerless4/24 genteel (adj.) well-bred; refined; excessively polite4/25 truculent (adj.) fierce; cruel; savage

4/26 vacuous (adj.) empty; purposeless; stupid; senseless

4/29 iota (n) a very small quantity; a jot4/30 lissome (adj.) supple; limber; flexible5/1 magnitude (adj.) greatness of size or extent; importance or influence

5/2 serpentine (adj.) evilly cunning or subtle; treacherous; coiled; twisting5/3 smidgen (n) a small amount; a bit

5/6 tenuous (adj.) unsubstantial; flimsy; physically thin5/7 malapropism (n) a ridiculous misuse of words, especially by confusion of words that

are similar in sound5/8 paradigm (n) an example or pattern

5/9 polyglot (n) knowing many or several languages; containing, composed of, or in

several languages; a confusion of languages

5/10 semantics (n) the study of meaning; the study of linguistic development byclassifying and examining changes in meaning and form

5/13 countermand (v) to cancel or revoke a command; to call back by a contrary order5/14 gainsay (v) to deny; to speak or act against; contradiction; denial5/15 gobbledygook (n) a wordy and generally unintelligible jargon; specialized language

meaningless to others outside a group

5/16 harangue (n) a long, blustering, noisy, or scolding speech; tirade

5/17 mellifluous (adj.) sounding sweet and smooth; honeyed

5/20 resonant (adj.) echoing; reinforced and prolonged by reflection or by sympathetic

Vibration of other bodies5/21 canon (n) a religious or a secular law or code of laws; a basis for judgment; any

officially recognized set of books5/22 recession (n.) the act of withdrawing or going back; a moderate and temporary

7/28/2019 Words of the Day - Fourth Quarter

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decline in economic activity

5/23 subversion (n.) a ruination or complete destruction; corruption; complete overthrow

5/24 surrogate (n.) a substitute; a judge having jurisdiction over the settlement of estates

5/27 Memorial Day

5/28 tandem (n.) a relationship between two persons or things involving cooperativeaction and mutual dependence5/29 traverse (v.) to pass, move, or extend over or across; to swivel or pivot, zigzag

5/30 trek (v.) to travel slowly or laboriously; to go, especially by foot

5/31 wanderlust (n.) an impulse, longing, or urge to travel or wander

6/3 wayfarer (n.) a person who travels, especially from place to place on foot

6/4 LPHS Graduation

6/4 concierge (n.) doorkeeper; caretaker, usually in an upscale hotel

6/5 despotic (adj.) acting like a tyrant

6/6 prohibitive (adj) very expensive; forbidding something

6/7 ossified (v.) to become fixed and rigid

6/10 profligacy (adj.) extremely extravagant or wasteful

6/11 dog days (pl. n.) the hottest period of summer; a lazy or inactive period of time