Vocabulary Building

Torpor (n) Extreme mental and physical sluggishness.  
The word "torpor" /ˈtɔːr.pɚ/ contains a rare segment, the r-colored vowel.   The r-colored vowel is contained in less than 1% of the world's languages, according to Wikipedia.  You can feel the difference between the the r sounds by comparing the movements you make at the end of the word "car" and "torpor".  In the second word, the tongue tip (for me) does something quite different.  But, the purpose of this vocabulary building exercise is not to talk about the phonetics of the word "torpor"; rather, I am to use "torpor" in a sentence, and not as a mention, but as a use.

Torpor is the process of decreased energy expenditure usually exhibited in the winter months by some animals in order to conserve energy during a time of food scarcity.  Torpor occurs via a process of meticulous, albeit in all likelihood unconscious, thermoregulation.

Vex (v) /veks/  to cause someone to feel annoyance or trouble 
Socrates was a vexing trouble-maker, questioning the veracity of the political rulers of the day.

I ought to get a bonus because I used two words in that sentence!

Veracity (n) /vəˈræs.ɪ.ti/ the quality or state of being true, honest, accurate 

Scourge (n) /skɝːdʒ/ a person or thing that applies or administers punishment or severe criticism 
I really like the /dʒ/ in words.  I think it's because it drags out the sound.

By obviating sober decision making, and effectively replacing the will of the individual for a repetitive scourge cycle in which the individual acts as his/her own worst enemy, addictive drugs are believed by many to precipitate a change in the motivational tendencies of the human being. 

Precipitate  (v)  prɪˈsɪpɪˌteɪt- to make something happen suddenly or sooner than expected, to throw violently or abruptly or bring about, lacking deliberation

Obviate (v) /ˈɑːb-vi.eɪt/ to remove a difficultly, especially so that action to deal with it becomes unnecessary 

Sober (adj) /ˈsoʊbər/ not drunk or affected by alcohol, marked by seriousness, solemnity, or gravity 

So, back to my sentence.  I think I am getting way too ambitious.  The use of vexing and veracity in one sentence works above just fine.  But, contextually, I am using the words "precipitate" and "obviate" in very loose senses.  I am using the former to mean something like "bring about" and the later to mean "eliminate".  Now, "sober", I think is used well in the context of this sentence.  

I just made some changes.  Next time, I will leave up the old version and put the new version down below as well.  Like this, 

Addictive drugs are believed by many to precipitate a change in the motivational tendencies of the human being; addictive drugs do this by obviating sober decision making, and effectively replacing the will of the individual with a repetitive scourge cycle in which the individual acts as his/her own worst enemy, forgoing basic life necessities, and instead dosing with his/her drug of choice.

I think this sentence works.  Let's replace the words with their meanings and try.  

By removing an obstacle, rational decision making, and effectively replacing the will of the individual with a repetitive application of (self) punishment in which the individual acts as his/her own worst enemy, forgoing basic life necessities, and instead dosing with his/her chemical of choice, addictive drugs are believed by many to abruptly bring about a change in the motivational tendencies of the human being.

So, as you can see, I think this sentence gets the point across rather nicely.  I especially like the use of the word obviate, which has an almost intentional sense to it;  you obviate something when you eliminate it so that you can carry on with your project.  In the sentence, I claim that drugs eliminate the obstacle of their perpetuation in the biological system, sobriety.  I like how it works, and I think I should get some extra points.  

Today, I learned the words, torpor, which has the r-colored vowel, and means a sort of hibernation; I learned vex, which is a verb and means trouble-making or annoying, and in the same sentence, I learned how to use the noun, veracity.  Veracity is one of my favorites, and it means truth, honesty, or accuracy.  

Finally, I learned the four words in my sentence about drugs.  They include scourge, obviate, sober, and precipitate.  Scourge is a noun and refers to an application that administers punishment or inflicts pain or severe criticism.  Obviate (v), I just spoke about as having an intentional ring to it, and it means the elimination of difficulty associated with progress.  Sober is not-drunk, unaffected by alcohol, and characterized by solemnity or gravity or seriousness.  And finally, precipitate means to bring about abruptly or suddenly often without deliberation.  

I have learned 7 words today.  If I keep that same pace up everyday for the next 48 days, I will have learned 336 words.  I believe I can do this!  And the thing is, I already knew some of these words.  I just didn't know their nuanced shade enough to say that I "knew" them with a capital "K".  More on my philosophy of words as colors later!  Bye bye.