12 VOCABULARY UNIT 1 Adamant Adjective Stubborn unyielding

12 VOCABULARY UNIT 1

Adamant Adjective Stubborn, unyielding, completely inflexible Synonym: stubborn Kristin remained adamant during her trial that she was innocent so much so that she wouldn’t even admit guilt when the prosecution presented video evidence showing her committing the crime.

Aphorism Noun A brief, often witty saying; a proverb Synonym: a saying Benjamin Franklin was fond of aphorisms such as, “time is money. ”

Arcane Adjective mysterious; known only to a select few Synonym: mysterious To an outsider, the wizard society in Harry Potter must have seemed very arcane.

Bane Noun Poison; torment; cause of harm Synonym: extreme annoyance Spam is the bane of computer users everywhere, accounting for more than 90% of email.

Covenant Noun A solemn agreement; a contract; a pledge Synonym: a contract The warring tribes made a covenant not to fight each other any more.

Deluge Noun A flood; an inundation Synonym: huge amount Even though it was only his first day of school, Matt received a deluge of homework.

Discrete Noun Unconnected; separate; distinct Synonym: separate The twins were identical, but their personalities were discrete.

Expedient Adjective Providing an immediate advantage; serving one’s immediate self interest Synonym: practical We felt it would be expedient to take the highway to the airport rather than the more scenic back roads since we had to be there in an hour.

Faction Noun A group, usually a small part of a larger group, united around some cause; disagreement within an organization Synonym: a group The police chief hoped he could come up with a peaceful way to end the violence between the rival gang factions.

Grandiose Adjective Absurdly exaggerated Synonym: over the top The scientist’s grandiose plan was to build a huge shopping center on the surface of the moon.

Heyday Noun Golden age; prime Synonym: prime Heyday Now In his heyday, Ed was a world class athlete; today he’s just Ed.

Incandescent Adjective Brilliant; giving off heat or light Synonym: bright Kate looked with awe at the incandescent sunrise.

Largess Noun Generous giving of gifts (or the gifts themselves); generosity; philanthropy Synonym: donation Seeing as Sam barely graduated from high school, it was only the largess of his uncle that got Sam into the Ivy League school.

Mundane Adjective Ordinary; pretty boring Synonym: boring My day was filled with mundane chores: I mowed the lawn, did the laundry, and fed the dog.

Narcissism Noun Excessively love of one’s body or oneself Synonym: vanity Kristin’s narcissism was demonstrated through the fact that her Instagram account was filled with selfies.

Ostentatious Adjective Showy; trying to impress Synonym: showing off The donor was ostentatious in making his gift to the hospital. He held a big press conference to announce it and then walked through the wards to give the patients an opportunity to thank him personally.

Prodigal Adjective Wastefully extravagant; reckless with money Synonym: wasteful The chef was prodigal with his employer’s money, spending thousands of dollars on ingredients for what was supposed to be a simple meal.

Remonstrate Verb To argue against, to protest, to raise objections Synonym: to argue Although Jack attempted to remonstrate with the police officer, he still received a speeding ticket.

Qualitative Adjective Relating to how good something is Synonym: subjective The difference between the movie was qualitative. Both movies made the same amount of money, but one was clearly better than the other in terms of the plot and acting.

Salutary Adjective Healthful, remedial, curative Synonym: healthful Lowered blood pressure is among the salutary effects of exercise.