VOCABULARY #1 (AP English)

adumbrate -indicate faintly,report in outline, to foreshadow
 -When I read a book, I like to adumbrate the story line in order to make the book more exciting.
apotheosis - glorification to a divine level, elevation of a person to the rank of a god or the ideal example.
 - In ancient times, most kings were thought to be a type of apotheosis
ascetic -one who renounces comforts in pursuit of self-discipline, often for religious purposes.
 -Islam is seen as an ascetic religion by many people in the western culture.
bauble -a showing ornament of little value
 -Sometimes decorating in a simple way is better than using a lot of bauble things.
beguile -to influence by trickery or flattery, to charm or divert, or to take away from by cheating
 -Scammers have a beguile ability to scam people of their money.
burgeon -flourish, rapidly increase
 -If students focused during class, their grades would burgeon.
complement -completes or brings to perfection
 -When choosing their outfits, models have to complement their cloths and their shoes.
contumacious-stubbornly disobedient, rebellious or willfully disobedient
 -The bad thing of working with middle school kids is that sometimes they behave contumaciously.
curmudgeon -a bad tempered or surly person
 -Curmudgeon teachers are often not well-liked.
didactic- intended to convey instruction as well as pleasure and entertainment
 -The teacher's lecture was didactic, that's why all the students were paying attention.
disingenuous- insincere, usually by pretending one knows less than they actually do; hypocritical
 -When people are trying to make a good impression, they often make disingenuous comments.
exculpate -declare one as not guilty of wrongdoing.
 -After a very long conversation, the principal decided to exculpate the student.
faux pas-a social blunder; slip in manners, an embarrassing blunder
 -When they were at the restaurant, little David had a faux pas after he burped loudly.
fulminate -express intense (passionate) protest.
 -When the driver was given the parking ticket, he said, "This is so unfair!" in a fulminative voice.
fustian-Pompous or pretentious speech or writing
 -The scammer gave a fustian speech in order to convince people that he knew what he was doing.
hauteur-pride, haughtiness, arrogance
 -At the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy was full of hauteur.
inhibit-hinder, restrain, or prevent, to prohibit
 -When someone is kidnapped, they are inhibited of their basic rights.
jeremiad -a prolonged lamentation
 -After writing 4 essays, the teacher expected the students to be in a jeremiad state.
opportunist -one who takes advantage of opportunities often at the expense of ethics.
 -Golddiggers are a form of opportunist people.
unconscionable-not reasonable, excessive
 -To the students, suspencion was an unconscionable punishment for chewing gum.