Vocabulary #8

1.)abase: to reduce or lower, as in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; humble; degrade
The officers dishonorable actions caused his unit to abase him.

2.)abdicate: to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner
Many parent's think it is acceptable to abdicate their responsibility to their children.

3.)abomination: anything greatly disliked or abhorred
The closed campus rule is still an abomination to me.

4.)brusque: abrupt in manner; blunt; rough
The checker at Walmart was rather brusque, not greeting her customers or making small talk.

5.)saboteur: a person who commits or practices sabotage
We voted her off the island when it become clear she was a saboteur.

6.)debauchery: excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance
The debauchery of the church group was quite shocking.

7.)proliferate: to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively
As the singer became more popular her fan base proliferated.

8.)anachronism: something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time
The digital watch in the movie Titanic is an anachronism.

9.)nomenclature: the names or terms comprising a set or system
The basic nomenclature of the computer system was confusing.

10.)expurgate: to purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness
The performance had to be expurgated before she presented it to the public.

11.)bellicose: inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious
The fans of the losing team were rather bellicose after the game.

12.)gauche: lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless
The gauche girl didn't seem to have a filter and blurted out whatever popped into her head.

13.)rapacious: given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed; inordinately greedy; predatory
The rapacious emperor didn't have much popularity among the people.

14.)paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth
I saw the paradoxical saying "The only thing constant is change" on a poster at school.

15.)conundrum: anything that puzzles
The assignment was a real conundrum.

16.)anomaly: a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form; abnormality, exception, peculiarity
The doctor told him that his condition was an anomaly.

17.)ephemeral: lasting a very short time
It was a very ephemeral relationship, not surprisingly, due to his lack of commitment.

18.)rancorous: showing resentment
The rancorous girl didn't want to run errands with her family so she threw a fit the entire time.

19.)churlish: boorish, rude, mean
"Churlish and insubordinate" -Mr. Garvey (substitute teacher)

20.)precipitous: extremely or impassably steep
The precipitous mountain looked daunting.