week 36

Degrade means to put down––a degrading comment is one that makes the subject feel bad, a degraded field is one whose soil has been worn out. If you move from an A average to a B, you've been degraded.
When you whistle at a passing woman, you're being disrespectful––your behavior is degrading to women. In science, degrade means to break down. Old paper or photographs can degrade when left in the light––their material breaks down so that they crumble at a touch.

Use grotesque to describe things that are very strange and ugly in an unnatural way. If something "grosses you out," you can safely refer to it as grotesque.
Grotesque also refers to a style of art that uses odd and fanciful combinations of natural, human, and animal forms.

When something is at the very peak of perfection, reach for this noun from Greek: acme. A brilliant violinist might reach the acme of her career, but eventually she might become unstrung.

To ingratiate is to make obvious efforts to gain someone's favor, in other words — to kiss up to someone.To ingratiate is to gain the favor of someone by doing lots of favors to the point of being a nudge. Like the teacher's pet who answers every question, stays after class to clean the chalkboard, and brings the teacher an apple every day. When you ingratiate yourself to people, you risk annoying them — like a little dog nipping at their heels.

Some crimes are unforgivable. Others are venial — venial crimes and sins are excusable. They're not a big deal.In school, there are so many things that are against the rules: talking during class, tossing spitballs, pulling the fire alarm, stealing a basketball, etc. Something venial would be something against the rules but forgivable. For example, if you were late for school because your parents were in the hospital, that lateness is venial.

If someone shows kindness, caring, and a willingness to help others, they're showing compassion.
This is a word for a very positive emotion that has to do with being thoughtful and decent. Giving to a charity takes compassion. Volunteering to work with sick people or animals takes compassion. When you have compassion, you're putting yourself in someone else's shoes and really feeling for them. Anytime a disaster like a hurricane or earthquake hits, others will feel compassion for the victims. Wh

When you depict something, you draw a picture of it, describe it or show what it looks like. So grab a crayon, a paint brush, or even an Etch-A-Sketch and start depicting. To explain to an alien what a banana is, you can either depict it with drawings, describe it in words, or both.

If you covet something, you eagerly desire something that someone else has. If it's 95 degrees out and humid, you may find yourself coveting your neighbor's air conditioner.
If the word covet sounds familiar, you're thinking of the Tenth Commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's."

A genre is a specific type of music, film, or writing. Your favorite literary genre might be science fiction, and your favorite film genre might be horror flicks about cheerleaders. Go figure.In music, genre refers to musical style such as jazz, salsa or rock. In film or literature, the genre is determined by the subject, setting or plot of the story. When you are wandering around a book store, books are usually arranged by genre. Many genres, such as "mystery" or "fantasy," overlap in film and

If you're talking about a typical example of something, call it the epitome. The cartoon character Garfield is the epitome of the fat, lazy, food-obsessed cat.
Coming to us from Greek through Latin, epitome refers to something that is the ultimate representative of its class. Are you the epitome of the hard-working student or do you believe in study in moderation?

No one likes being called naive, since it means you lack sophistication or street smarts.
A person who is too trusting can be criticized for being overly naive: "You're so naive, you think that e-mail from the Nigerian prince is really going to make you a million dollars!" Naive shares the same root as native, and originally meant "natural" or "not artificial." It can still be used in a more positive meaning when describing a charming lack of artificiality, as in "the naive style of folk art mad

Penury means extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets. Economic downturns, job loss, shopping sprees, and weekends at the high rollers' table in Vegas can lead to penury.
Penur

Call something unsavory if it's unappetizing, tasteless, or morally offensive. Curdled sour milk is pretty unsavory, as are the dirty details of the latest political scandal.
The adjective unsavory was formed by merging un, meaning “not,” with savory, meaning “pleasant, agreeable.” So if it's unsavory, it's unpleasant. First used to describe revolting tastes, unsavory now also applies to just about anything that figuratively leaves a bad taste in your mouth

Repugnant refers to something you detest so thoroughly it threatens to make you physically sick, like the idea of marrying your sister. Or wearing last year's jeans.
A repugnant thing is a thing offensive, detestable, or obscene. It can be repugnant to your mind or your morals. It can also be physically repugnant, like the smell that comes from a restaurant’s dumpster, which hasn't been emptied since the very exciting "Omelet Week," way back at the beginning of August.

If you have a copious amount of something, you have a lot of it. If you take copious notes, you'll do well when it comes time for review sessions — unless you can't read your own handwriting.
Copious comes from the Latin copia, meaning "abundance." You can use copious for something quantitative, like your copious admirers, or for something qualitative, like the copious gratitude you feel for your admirers. You will often see the word amounts following copious since the adjective is often used to

If someone accuses you of being perfidious, you should probably be offended — it means underhanded, treacherous, deceitful — even evil.
If you betray people often, you're perfidious: traitors are extremely perfidious. Besides betrayal, this word implies lying and maybe other kinds of awful behavior, like stealing and taking bribes. Everyone tries to avoid perfidious people. Perfidious is kind of an old-fashioned word, but being perfidious will never go out of style, unfortunately.

Straightforward and truthful talk might be described with the adjective candid. If you're too candid in your personal blog, a future employer might discover your penchant for nude skydiving.
A serious-minded politician might suggest engaging in a "candid discussion" about a complicated topic like health care or the environment, because candid means "open" or "frank."In photography, candid has become a noun meaning "an unposed photo."

If you fall asleep with your heavy head on your arm, you might not have the dexterity, or control of your hand, to hit the OFF button on the alarm clock in the morning.Very small children do well with mittens, because their dexterity, or skill in using their hands, isn’t as developed as in older kids and adults, who wear gloves to separate their fingers. Dexterity helps fingers and hands to coordinate for completing fine tasks like writing, sewing, and playing string instruments. "Mental dexteri

When you do something vehemently, you do it with energy and passion. If you vehemently oppose your brother’s plan for the family vacation, then you’re really, really against it.
The word vehemently has a lot of force behind it. It traces back to the Latin word vehement, meaning “impetuous, violent.” If you do something vehemently, then you do it forcefully and with emotion, and no one will doubt how you really feel. You’ll often hear it used to describe situations involving conflict or disagreem

Losing a football game stinks, but losing a game where, at the end, you are lying face down in a puddle of mud and the fans are burning effigies of you in the streets? That is an ignominious defeat.
Although ignominious can modify other words, it is nearly always attached to "defeat." It derives from the word ignominy, which means public shame or defeat.