Lovejoy Academic Vocabulary Achievement
Fourth Six Weeks
2011-12
1. meretricious (mayr-eh-TRISH-us) adj: Attractive on the surface but
having no real value; attracting attention in a gaudy and flashy way; or
reasonable to believe yet insincere and fake; phony, referring to an
argument.
2. mien (MEEN) adj: Bearing or conduct; look or appearance, especially as it
relates to personality or character.
3. misnomer (mis-NOH-mer) noun: An unsuitable and incorrect or
misleading name for any given object.
4. nefarious (neh-FAYR-ree-us) adj: Wicked or evil; villainous; may imply
infamous as well as cruel.
5. obfuscate (AHB-fyoo-skayt) verb: To intentionally make something
unclear or confusing; to purposefully make facts or a situation difficult to
understand.
6. odious (OH-dee-us) adj: Disgusting, repellant, reprehensible; causing
extreme dislike or displeasure.
7. ornate (or-NAYT) adj: Highly decorated; showy, flashy and intricate; hevily
ornamented; or flowery and complex, referring to writing style.
8. pariah (puh-RIY-ah) noun: A social outcast; one who is completely
rejected from a community or a society at large.
9. pedantic (ped-DAN-tik adj: Characterized by a narrow, somewhat petty,
attention to facts and book learning; focused only on the trivial facts of a
certain topic; marked by a tiresome need to prove book smarts about a
topic.
10. perfunctory (per-FUNK-tuh-ree adj: Managed or handled without care or
particular thought; done because it has to be done, not because it is cared
about; phoned in; done with indifference.
11. presage (PREHS-ihj) noun: A warning or foretelling that something bad is
going to occur; an omen.
12. prodigious (preh-DIHJ-uhs) adj: Enormous; much larger in scope than
usual; or impressive; awe-inspiring; extraordinary.
13. reciprocity (res-ih-PRAH-sih-tee) noun: The practice of exchanging
goods, services, or ideals with another for mutual benefit; an exchange in
which both parties gain.
14. remonstrate (ree-MON-strayt) or (reh-MUHN-strayt) verb: To forcefully
protest; to argue against.
15. repast (rih-PAST) noun: A meal.
16. rescind (rih-SIHND) verb: To take back; to make void; to negate.
17. sage (SAYJ) noun/adj: A wise person, usually implies wisdom gained from
age (noun). Characterized by a sense of calm and great wisdom
(adjective).
18. sedition (she-DIH-shun) noun: Actions or words that encourage rebellion
against a government; the act of trying to motivate people to overthrow the
government.
19. somniferous (sahm-NIF-her-uhs) adj: Bringing on sleep or tiredness.
20. torpid (TOR-pid) adj: Slow, lacking energy or enthusiasm; inactive and
lazy.
21. truncate (TRUNG-kayt) verb: To shorten by cutting off an end, used
figuratively and literally.
22. verbose (ver-BOHS) adj: Using or having more words than necessary;
using such flowery or technical language that the meaning is obscured.
23. viscous (VIHS-kuhs) adj: Having a thick, gooey texture that does not flow
easily.
24. wean (WEEN) verb: To ease someone off of something they have
become dependent on.
25. zealot (ZEL-eht) noun: A person who believes so strongly in an idea,
political party, or religion that it becomes more important than just about
anything else.
Word Parts:
26. art: skill, craft; joint; connected. Over 300 words in the English language.
27. sum: to take up, claim. About 125 words.
28. tang: to touch, feel, perceive. About 250 words.
29. nomin: name. Over 110 words.
30. ordin: row, rank, arrangement. More than 200.
Academic Connections:
Art: articulate, inertia, artifact, artisan, article, unarticulated.
Sum: consumable, consumer, assumption, presumption, assume.
Tang: contagions, contingencies, tact, intangible, tangential, tangents.
Nomin: nomenclature, binomial, denomination, nominate, trinomial,
polynomials.
Ordin: disorder, extraordinary, primordial, ordinances, coordinating,
subordination, coordinates, ordinals.