Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Depilate (v.) to remove the hair from 

  • The young feminist questioned her motives for engaging in full body depilation week after week, year after year.

Desultory (adj.) lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm

  • The professor critiqued the man's paper for being desultory; it meandered from topic to topic without any clear argument.  The man has vowed to convalesce from this critique by creating meticulous outlines, and punctilious thesis statements.  

Vacillate (adj.) alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive

  • The man vacillated often and sometimes in the same breathe; some days he professed atheism, other days agnosticism, and yet still other days, theism.  

Infinitesimal (adj.) extremely small

  • Although imperceptible to his prospective new boss, the infinitesimal mustard stain on the man's shirt plagued him throughout the meeting.

Rubicon (n.) a point of no return (a stream in Northeastern Italy that Caesar crossed illegally; thus committing himself to war against the Senate and Pompey) 

  • I, myself, have reached the rubicon in my self-actualization; one more step, and I will be beyond my former self recognition.  
  • Punching his mother was the rubicon for boy of which his father could never conciliate.

Penurious (adj.) extremely poor; poverty-stricken

  • The free-spirited couple collected aluminum cans, chasing away their impending penurious fate.  

Convalesce (v.) to recover one’s health and strength over a period of time after an illness or operation

  • He did so convalesce, partly as a result of following the doctor's orders, and partly as a result of drinking noni-juice.

Quotidian (adj.) of or occurring every day; daily

  • Performed daily, flushing the toilets at the school was another quotidian chore the custodian felt proved that the children were being cosseted at home by their parents.  

Sanguine (adj.) optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

  • Eliminating an inauthentic sanguine attitude borne from the assiduous desire for social companions is our primary goal; one's attitude must be authentic, even if authenticity entails pessimism, and even if this creates a pariah.   

No comments:

Post a Comment