Jan Hooks (1957-2014) Tribute List

Jan Hooks died on October 9, 2014 after a serious illness at the age of 57. As a cast member of Saturday Night Live (From 1986-1991), Hooks could inspire laughter with the slightest mannerism or the most detailed accent. Like Phil Hartman, who she was often paired with in sketches, she was part of the reliable backbone of the cast. Hooks went on after Saturday Night Live to participate in some other funny things, like Martin Short's Primetime Glick and The Simpsons. Today's comedians look up to Hooks as someone who tried to ground her comedy in a certain humanity, and it is this quality one hopes she will be remembered for.
12 words 181 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rebuke
    censure severely or angrily
    Demonic raisins I rebuke you!
    —As Tammy Faye Baker on Saturday Night Live
  2. compulsion
    using force to cause something to occur
    Somewhere between cleanliness and godliness lies Compulsion, the world's most indulgent disinfectant. From Calvin Kleen.
    — Commercial Parody, Saturday Night Live
  3. abrogate
    revoke formally
    ...you abrogate the union's contract and file Chapter 11. You call that a complex maneuver?
    — " Desert Mechanic " Saturday Night Live
  4. dowdy
    lacking in stylishness or taste
    I see you're using the Roosevelt Tea Service? Don't you find it old fashioned and dowdy?
    — As Nancy Reagan on Saturday Night Live
  5. vanity
    feelings of excessive pride
    Aquino: I have nothing to say to Imelda Marcos. She is a foolish, foolish woman who lost her country due to excessive greed and vanity. She is despicable and I have no respect for her whatever.
    Stevens: You know I had a roommate like that in college.
    — As Corazon Aquino on Saturday Night Live
  6. despicable
    morally reprehensible
    Aquino: I have nothing to say to Imelda Marcos. She is a foolish, foolish woman who lost her country due to excessive greed and vanity. She is despicable and I have no respect for her whatever.
    Stevens: You know I had a roommate like that in college.
    — As Corazon Aquino on Saturday Night Live
  7. liquid
    in cash or easily convertible to cash
    Dominion Textile is making a hostile bid for Burlington. They don't have the liquid assets. Everybody knows that!
    — "Desert Mechanic" on Saturday Night Live
  8. Brahma
    the Creator
    [Manjula and Marge walk in on Apu getting ready to hang himself] Oh, Apu, you are such a Brahma queen.
    — as Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons
  9. tribulation
    an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
    And I was dumb-founded. I mean I had no idea. Because Lord knows, through all the trials and tribulations of Saturday Night Live, you go on with the show.
    — From Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller
  10. vocation
    the particular occupation for which you are trained
    And in my mid-twenties it kind of hit that it wasn't a hobby anymore, that it was my vocation, that I had to do this in order to live. And that shaded it in a whole different way. It made me afraid, you know?
    —From Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller
  11. trauma
    an emotional wound or shock having long-lasting effects
    My mom had cancer. And I just grabbed on to Kevin [Nealon] and we went down to Atlanta where my mom was. and we just started this relationship- it was a relationship out of a kind of trauma. And the only problem was that we both got Saturday Night Live in the middle of it.
    —From Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller
  12. pinata
    plaything consisting of a container filled with toys and candy; suspended from a height for blindfolded children to break with sticks
    The Star of Bethlehem is not a piñata!
    — As Miss Leavy in Simon Birch
Created on Thu Oct 09 20:06:34 EDT 2014 (updated Fri Oct 10 00:17:43 EDT 2014)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.