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VOCABULARY LISTS > USER LISTS

Losing Mum and Pup 54 words

February 11, 2010 By David B. (Wallingford, CT)
A memoir, by Christopher Buckley
Pages 1 - 67
Words not found in VT: omincompetent pg 59; patricidal pg 61; Cordelianin pg 63; filiality pg 63; Jaime jam pg 35;

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. adamantine
    consisting of or having the hardness of adamant
    pg 56
  2. apparatchik
    a communist who was a member of the administrative system of a communist party
    pg 67
  3. ennui
    the feeling of being bored by something tedious
    pg 57
  4. excoriation
    severe censure
    pg 50
  5. expostulation
    an exclamation of protest or remonstrance or reproof
    pg 53
  6. indomitable
    impossible to subdue
    pg 56
  7. japery
    acting like a clown or buffoon
    pg 51
  8. jeremiad
    a long and mournful complaint
    pg 53
  9. leavened
    made light by aerating, as with yeast or baking powder; often used as a combining form
    pg 51
  10. limpet
    mollusk with a low conical shell
    pg 54
  11. manse
    the residence of a clergyman (especially a Presbyterian clergyman)
    pg 51
  12. mendacity
    the tendency to be untruthful
    pg 55
  13. monomaniacal
    obsessed with a single subject or idea
    pg 51
  14. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
    pg 49
  15. obviate
    do away with
    pg 57
  16. pari passu
    used in legal language
    pg 67
  17. plonk
    set (something or oneself) down with or as if with a noise
    pg62
  18. prevarication
    a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
    pg 55
  19. rococo
    having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation
    pg 57
  20. spuriously
    in a false and spurious manner
    pg 53
  21. Sturm und Drang
    a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
    pg 53
  22. subjunctive
    relating to a mood of verbs
    pg 53
  23. vinous
    of or relating to wine
    pg 52
  24. banal
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    pg 4
  25. koan
    a paradoxical anecdote or a riddle that has no solution; used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning
    pg 5
  26. impetuous
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
    pg 7
  27. curt
    brief and to the point; effectively cut short
    pg 8
  28. denominate
    assign a name or title to
    pg 9
  29. sang-froid
    great coolness and composure under strain
    pg 14
  30. paladin
    someone who fights for a cause
    pg 14
  31. importune
    beg persistently and urgently
    pg 14
  32. correlative
    expressing a reciprocal or complementary relation
    pg 16
  33. minatory
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    pg 24
  34. edematous
    swollen with an excessive accumulation of fluid
    pg 24
  35. factotum
    a servant employed to do a variety of jobs
    pg 34
  36. amanuensis
    someone skilled in the transcription of speech (especially dictation)
    pg34
  37. cuneiform
    an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia and Persia
    pg 34
  38. seigneur
    a man of rank in the ancient regime
    pg 36 "droit du seigneue"
  39. Potemkin
    a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791)
    pg 37
  40. intransigence
    the trait of being intransigent; stubbornly refusing to compromise
    pg 38
  41. cannonade
    intense and continuous artillery fire
    pg 38
  42. Savonarola
    Italian religious and political reformer; a Dominican friar in Florence who preached against sin and corruption and gained a large following; he expelled the Medici from Florence but was later excommunicated and executed for criticizing the Pope (1452-1498)
    pg 38
  43. impiety
    unrighteousness by virtue of lacking respect for a god
    pg 38
  44. exigent
    demanding attention
    pg 40
  45. punctilious
    marked by precise accordance with details
    pg 43
  46. variegated
    having a variety of colors
    pg 45
  47. atavistic
    characteristic of an atavist
    pg 45
  48. corpus
    a collection of writings
    pg 45 "atavistic habeas corpus"
  49. corporeal
    having material or physical form or substance
    pg 46
  50. palpable
    capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt
    pg 48
  51. ebullient
    joyously unrestrained
    pg 48
  52. blancmange
    sweet almond-flavored milk pudding thickened with gelatin or cornstarch; usually molded
    pg 48
  53. perfervid
    characterized by intense emotion
    pg 37
  54. orison
    reverent petition to a deity
    pg 37