week 43

To ameliorate is to step in and make a bad situation better. You could try introducing a second lollipop to ameliorate a battle between two four-year-olds over a single lollipop.
The verb ameliorate comes from the Latin word meliorare, meaning “improve.” Food drives can ameliorate hunger. Aspirin can ameliorate a headache. A sympathy card can ameliorate grief. Family therapy can ameliorate severe sibling rivalry. Anything that can lift a burden can ameliorate.

If you see your name on the roster of players for the new softball team, then congratulations! Better start practicing, because you’re on the list of players who made the team.
The word roster originally meant a list of the names, duties, and schedule of members of the military. That meaning is still in use, but today, a roster is more likely to be a list of players on your favorite team, a list of artists whose artwork appears regularly in a certain gallery, or a list of participants, such as a

To stunt is to slow or hinder. Some people say that drinking coffee will stunt your growth when you're a teenager — they worry that you won't grow any taller.
Poor nutrition can stunt your growth, and bad soil will do the same for a plant — a lack of moisture or nutrients will stunt the development of your lettuce or tomatoes. Another meaning of stunt is a dangerous trick, the kind performed in an action movie or by planes in an air show.

Wearing a cast on a broken leg can cause atrophy, or withering, in the leg, because it is immobilized and gets no exercise.Atrophy occurs in parts of the body that can't move or be "fed" because of disease or injury. It also is used to describe things that go dull through lack of use, like skills in sports or artistic creativity. The (unrelated) word "trophy" refers to something that sits on a shelf and is admired, while atrophy is a condition of being "shelved," or made inactive and lifeless.

To maim something is to disfigure it through force or violence. Wartime battles have a tendency to maim soldiers.
The verb maim is related to mayhem, which, historically, was the act of hurting another person so badly that they couldn’t defend themselves. To maim a person or animal, even if it’s an accident, is to render them defenseless or disfigured, and it frequently includes the loss of a limb. The goal of driving defensively is to avoid an accident that could maim you, your passengers, or o

You might know the idea of the adjective unctuous by other words like "oily," "smarmy," or overly "flattering." When a person is unctuous, you can't trust their kindness, because they usually want something in return.

Choose the adjective benevolent for someone who does good deeds or shows goodwill. If your teacher collects homework with a benevolent smile, she's hoping that you've done a good job.
Benevolent comes from the Latin bene "well" and volent from the verb "to wish" so you can imagine that this word brings goodness with it. A benevolent society is a charity group organized to serve a community through programs, sponsorships and donations

Subservient means "compliant," "obedient," "submissive," or having the qualities of a servant. Something that's subservient has been made useful, or put into the service of, something else.

n iniquity is a really unfair or really immoral act. If you're a journalist, you may uncover a terrible iniquity that forces a famous politician to step down.Iniquity can also be used to say that something lacks moral or spiritual principles. Some would call Las Vegas a “den of iniquity,” implying that sinful or wicked behavior occurs there. Others would just call it a vacation.

You might not want to call a mercenary a "hireling" to his face, but a mercenary is, after all, a soldier who gets paid to fight where needed, sometimes taking a heroic stand and other times just wanting payment for fighting. which defines someone who will do anything in exchange for money. In history, a mercenary was often a fighter who followed the next paycheck, but in recent decades it's also been used for fighters who pursue a good cause in areas where soldiers are in short supply.

A criterion is a standard for judging something. If you are holding a cupcake competition, your number one criterion might be the smoothness of frosting.
A criterion is a category for judging, but can also be a prerequisite for an achievement. It might be an application requirement for a teaching job that you have taught already for two years.

To mollify is to calm someone down, talk them off the ledge, make amends, maybe even apologize.When you mollify someone, you smooth things over, even if you're maybe still a little mad: "I was angry that the guy took my seat, but I was mollified when he offered me one closer to the band."

The verb repent means "to feel sorry for something you've done." When you repent, you acknowledge what you did and vow to change your ways. which means, "to feel regret for sins or crimes." If you cheat on an exam in school, and feel guilty afterwards, you might repent for your bad behavior by confessing to your teacher. The verb repent is often used in a religious context: when you repent, you try to make up for what you've done, promise to avoid sin in the future and devote yourself to God.

Vestige is an elegant word. It's all about shadows, and gives us a way to talk about traces or reminders of something that has disappeared or is disappearing.Sometimes vestige is used to emphasize the complete lack of something. She told me she took the money from my wallet without the least vestige of remorse in her voice or facial expression.

A pariah is someone that has been soundly rejected by their community. Your constant gossiping might make you a pariah on campus.
Pariah takes its name from a tribe in Southeast India. The pariahs were drummers, sorcerers, and servants who became untouchables in Indian society because of the unsanitary jobs they did. Pariah maintains this sense of untouchableness. Pariahs are not just unliked, they are avoided at all costs.

That emotionally cold and detached fellow who keeps to himself, smoking clove cigarettes and reading French philosophy, would best be described as aloof.

Guise, a noun, is the art of pretending to be something you aren't, like when, in the guise of an invited guest, you fake your way into the party of the century. Both involve the art of deception: it’s the methods that differ. Guise is about trying on new attitudes and mannerisms, such as speaking and acting in the guise of a native in a place where you are actually a tourist. Disguise involves hiding your real identity, disappearing in the new role.

To describe a person or a solution that takes a realistic approach, consider the adjective pragmatic. The four-year-old who wants a unicorn for her birthday isn't being very pragmatic.
The opposite of idealistic is pragmatic, a word that describes a philosophy of "doing what works best."A pragmatic person is sensible, grounded, and practical — and doesn't expect a birthday celebration filled with magical creatures.

A cynic is someone who believes that humans are selfish and that they only do something if it will benefit themselves. Cynics criticize acts of kindness and will probably tease you if you help an old lady cross the street.
Maybe you know a cynic or two. They like to criticize people and situations, especially if they think there’s a deeper motivation behind the more obvious one.