"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 15

Philip Geer's "Simon's Saga" includes 820 SAT-level words and gives students an entertaining glimpse into college life.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20, Episode 21, Episode 22, Episode 23, Episode 24, Episode 25, Episode 26, Episode 27, Episode 28, Episode 29, Episode 30, Episode 31, Episode 32, Episode 33, Episode 34, Episode 35, Episode 36, Episode 37
20 words 718 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. perspicacious
    mentally acute or penetratingly discerning
    It would also be interesting to see if he was really as perspicacious as they said he was.
  2. consummate
    having or revealing supreme mastery or skill
    He was obviously a consummate flirt, so she thought she’d try out a little coquette routine herself.
  3. coquette
    talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
    He was obviously a consummate flirt, so she thought she’d try out a little coquette routine herself.
  4. obsessed
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    She was obsessed.
  5. pluck
    the trait of showing courage and determination
    That certainly shows pluck, girl.
  6. millennium
    a span of 1000 years
    Even in the new millennium guys were, at least nominally, supposed to be the aggressors.
  7. nominally
    in name only
    Even in the new millennium guys were, at least nominally, supposed to be the aggressors.
  8. decorum
    propriety in manners and conduct
    The girl, of course, had to maintain at least an appearance of decorum.
  9. overt
    open and observable; not secret or hidden
    She could not show her interest overtly.
  10. congenital
    present at birth but not necessarily hereditary
    You see, I have this uncontrollable tic, this aberration that makes me wink at guys. I’ve been to all sorts of specialists, but they say it’s congenital, that I’ll have to learn to live with it.
  11. delusional
    suffering from or characterized by erroneous beliefs
    What girl in her right mind would wink at a guy in front of his girl? You must be seriously delusional or something.
  12. ubiquitous
    being present everywhere at once
    Simon was ubiquitous.
  13. propinquity
    the property of being close together
    OK, it wouldn’t be like being his main squeeze, but propinquity did have some pretty heavy-duty virtues.
  14. hypocrite
    a person who professes beliefs that he or she does not hold
    It was, she was well aware, not the noblest thought that had ever crossed her mind, but, she reflected, at least I’m not a hypocrite
  15. connive
    form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
    I mean, at least I’m not trying to deny I’m a conniver.
  16. maxim
    a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
    Anyway, what was that maxim she was always sticking into her English essays on those nineteenth-century novels?
  17. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    IT IS A PLATITUDE.
  18. hackneyed
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    IT IS TOTALLY HACKNEYED.
  19. truism
    an obvious statement of fact
    What she didn’t get was what was wrong with using a truism if it was true, and expressed what you wanted to say perfectly.
  20. pithy
    concise and full of meaning
    Really pithy.
Created on Mon Aug 18 20:57:57 EDT 2014 (updated Tue Aug 19 14:55:07 EDT 2014)

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