Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 30 GoldWord 1: Mire Def: 1 An area of soggy, muddy ground; 2 A difficult situation Sent: To one who, journeying through night and fog, Is mired neck-deep in an unwholesome bog, Experience, like the rising of the dawn, Reveals the path that he should not have gone. Ambrose Bierce

Word 2: Eke Def: Manage to support oneself or make a little with great difficultySent: At best, November retail sales will eke out a small gain, and we would not be at all surprised if the numbers were to dip a bit.Ian Shepherdson

Word 3: Brink Def: The edge or margin of a steep place or a crucial or critical point, especially wheresuccess or catastrophe depends Sent: Whenever cannibals are on the brink of starvation, Heaven, in its infinite mercy, sends them a nice plump missionary.Oscar Wilde

Word 4: BereaveDef: To leave desolate or alone, especially by death Sent: Widows are divided into two classes -- the bereaved and relieved.Victor Robinson

Word 5: Malfeasance Def: Wrongdoing or misconduct especially by a public official Sent: To me, this kind of malfeasance or nonfeasance is precisely what the public cannot tolerate.Jackie Speier

Word 6: Convoluted Def: Extremely complex and difficult to follow, esp. of an argument or story. Intricately folded or twisted Sent: The book was about a 22-year legal battle, and let me tell you, that makes for a well-researched but very convoluted story.Niki Caro

Word 7:Polemical Def: Involving dispute or controversy Sent: There are polemical extremes that are getting more hostile to each other. Jeffrey Schloss

Word 8: Magnitude Def: Size; Extent; dimensions, or of great importance or consequence Sent: People are slow to claim confidence in undertakings of magnitude. Ovid

Word 9: Guile Def: Crafty trickery, deceitfulness Sent: I used every dirty trick I could think of. Through the use of guile and imagination, I always kept him wanting more.Earl Woods

Word 10: Fickle Def: Likely to change one's mind without reason or warning, especially in matters of loyalty, affection or taste Sent: Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, Fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle.Marilyn Monroe

Word 11: Antagonist Def: One who opposes and contends against another; an adversarySent: Where there is no antagonist, you cannot quarrel.Japanese Proverb

Word 12: Recalcitrant Def: Marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority Sent: We've decided to isolate Hilton because they are the most recalcitrant and belligerent employer in the industry.P. Ward

Word 13: Cornucopia Def: The horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance Sent: It is easy to understand how money works against consumers by a strong industry lobbying effort capped by a cornucopia of campaign cash.Frank Clemente

Word 14: Periphery Def: The portion of a system outside the central region, the edge or outskirts Sent: Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.Warren G. Bennis

Word 15: Carcinogenic Def: An agent directly involved in causing cancer Sent: The smoked fish contained a high concentration of smoke deposits as well as carcinogenic agents.Purnama Dharmaji

Word 16: CohortsDef: A group of people banded togetherSent: As the first baby boomers begin to turn 60, retailers should continue to focus efforts around this cohort, who have high amounts of discretionary income.Pat Conroy

Word 17: Cataclysm Def: A sudden violent upheaval Sent: This is a city that has gone through cataclysm, and its citizens are desperately ready to let off some steam. This is going to be a Mardi Gras for the ages. Mary Herczog

Word 18: Endemic Def: Prevalent in a particular locality, region, or peopleSent: But the bulk of this problem is still in Asia and this disease has become highly endemic in much of Asia. So we have to be balanced in our approach.Mike Ryan

Word 19: Penultimate Def: The next to the last Sent: It was a tense game. We are delighted to have achieved it in the penultimate round.Felix Magath

Word 20: Cessation Def: The Ending of something Sent: to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that this moment is neither frightening nor painful, but a peaceful cessation of the functioning of the body.E. Kubler-Ross