Vocabulary Enrichment #1

Myriad - noun a countless or extremely great number

A myriad of stars lit up the night sky.

Innocuous - adjective not harmful or offensive

The innocuous question was answered by the teacher.

Feign - verb pretend to be affected by

She had to feign sickness to thwart his advances.

Temerity - noun excessive confidence or boldness; audacity

The temerity of his advances turned her off.

Affront - noun an action or remark that causes outrage or offense

His protest was an affront to the president.

Acquiesce - verb accept something reluctantly but without protest

His agreement to acquiesce with her idea for the group project got rid of many problems.

Interim - noun an intervening time; interval; meantime

She took classes in the interim between semesters.

Trepidation - noun a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen

She waited for the response to her application in trepidation.

Alleviate - verb make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe

The cold medicine helped to alleviate her sickness.

Stagnant - adjective showing no activity; dull and sluggish

The stagnant waters of the ocean felt calming.

Elicit - verb evoke or draw out (a response, answer, or fact) from someone in reaction to one's own actions or questions

He drew out negative elicit feelings when he talked to her.

Exacerbate - verb make (a problem, bad situation or negative feeling) worse

His opinions exacerbated the problems in the group.

Tumultuous - adjective excited, confused or disorderly

The tumultuous task was difficult for the group to complete on time.

Bolster - verb support or strengthen, prop up

Her volunteer hours helped to bolster the campaign to success.

Cajole - verb persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery

She had to cajole her friend to go out to the bar.

Clandestine - adjective kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit

The president's clandestine meetings with Russia are under investigation. 

Ameliorate - verb make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better

The mayor put in place new reforms to help ameliorate living conditions.

Cessation - noun the fact or process of ending or being brought to an end

The cessation of hostilities helped to ease tension in the group.

Proliferation - noun rapid increase in numbers

The proliferation of protesters proclaimed their peeves publicly.

Fervent - adjective having or displaying a passionate intensity

Her fervent studying showed in her grades.

Ubiquitous - adjective present, appearing or found everywhere

The whales seemed almost ubiquitous this season.



Sweltering - adjective uncomfortably hot

The sweltering afternoon heat tired out the soccer players.

Extraneous - adjective irrelevant or unrelated to the subject being dealt with 

She had to sort through pages of extraneous material to complete her presentation.

Recalcitrant - adjective having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline

The class of recalcitrant teenagers did not pay attention to the substitute teacher.

Schadenfreude - noun pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune

They dropped Summer as a friend because she felt schadenfreude when they were miserable.

Malleable - adjective easily influenced, pliable

Her attitude was easily malleable by those around her.

Augment - verb make (something) greater by adding to it; increase

His displeasure augmented her sense of schadenfreude. 

Debauchery - noun excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures

The house party was full of debauchery. 

Decadence - noun luxurious self-indulgence 

The ice cream treat after dinner was pure decadence. 

Presumptive - adjective of the nature of a presumption; presumed in the absence of further information

There is presumptive evidence that the zoo is not treating their animals humanely.