Vocabulary #12 – Period 1
[dih-min-yuh-tiv]
diminutive
1.
–adjective
1. small; little; tiny: a diminutive building for a model-train layout
Origin: 1350–1400; ME < ML
2.
unfettered
[uhn-fet-er
adjective
not bound by shackles and chains
Origin: 1325–75; ME
cog·ni·zant [kog-nuh-zuh nt]
3.
–adjective
1.
2.
having cognizance; aware (usually fol. by of): He was cognizant of the difficulty.
having legal cognizance.
[Origin: 1810–20
scin·til·lat·ing
4.
[sin-tl-ey-ting]
–adjective
1.
2.
animated; vivacious; effervescent: a scintillating personality.
witty; brilliantly clever: a scintillating conversationalist; a play full of scintillating dialogue.
[Origin: 1880–85
5.
flummox
[fluhm-uh ks]
–verb
to bewilder; confound; confuse.
Origin: 1830–40; orig. uncert.
6. mor·a·to·ri·um [mawr-uh-tawr-ee-uh m
–noun,
1. a suspension of activity: a moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons.
2. a legally authorized period to delay payment of money due or the performance of
some other legal obligation, as in an emergency.
3. an authorized period of delay or waiting.
[Origin: 1870–75; < NL, LL morātōrium
7.
ominous
adjective
1.portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious:an
ominous bank of dark clouds.
2.indicating the nature of a future event, for good or evil; having the
significance of an omen; being a portent:Some of these events were
immediately ominous, while others only later revealed themselves as
such.
Origin: 1580-90; < Latin
8. conniving
verb
1. to cooperate secretly; conspire (often followed by with):
They connived to take over the business.
2. to avoid noticing something that one is expected to oppose or
condemn; give aid to wrongdoing by forbearing to act or speak
(usually followed by at):
The policeman connived at traffic violations.
3. to be indulgent toward something others oppose or criticize (usually
followed by at): to connive at childlike exaggerations.
Origin: Latin,1595-1605
9.
repudiate
[ri-pyoo-dee-eyt] Spell
verb
1. to reject as having no authority or binding force:
to repudiate a claim.
2. to cast off or disown:to repudiate a son.
3. to reject with disapproval or condemnation:
to repudiate a new doctrine.
4. to reject with denial:to repudiate a charge as untrue.
5. to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality,
etc.
Origin: 1535-45; < Latin
10. grap·ple
–verb
1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.
2. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling;
clinch.
3. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually fol. by with): He
was grappling with a boy twice his size.
4. to try to overcome or deal (usually fol. by with): to grapple with a
problem.
[Origin: 1520–30; appar. a freq. of OE