Essential Twelfth Grade Vocabulary: List 8

Albania’s secret police rounded up anyone suspected of not giving proper obeisance to the government and its leaders. Washington Post (Feb 27, 2020)

Be careful however not to be too attentive, as you then become officious, and embarrass when you mean to please. Hartley, Cecil B.

“We then learn only useful things, and don’t cram our heads with pedantic knowledge.” Drayson, A.W.

“Mrs. Weston’s manners,” said Emma, “were always particularly good. Their propriety, simplicity, and elegance, would make them the safest model for any young woman.” Emma

Parents are known at times to deliver an ultimatum to a recalcitrant child by saying, “Do this, or else!” New York Times (Mar 21, 2016)

You seem generally more sanguine about things, and less depressed about the state of the world, than I expected to find you. The New Yorker (Oct 6, 2019)

She is savvy and always ready with a backup plan; she is diligent, and pays scrupulous attention to details; and she is focused, quickly assessing the risk involved in all situations. Forbes (Jun 9, 2015)

Committee officials flatly deny that the files were obtained through surreptitious means. Washington Post (Mar 12, 2014)

President Franklin Roosevelt embraced the unique capacity of government to pull people together and create pools of social insurance that shielded all Americans against the risks and vicissitudes that we all face in common. Salon (May 7, 2016)

“What have I done to deserve so disobedient and willful a daughter-in-law?” Homeless Bird