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inceton Review

ADAM ROBINSON and JULIAN FLEISHER

NOTE: The word lists are in alphabetical order, not in the order of the recording.

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10 ONUS - n. a burden; a task taking a great deal of effort to complete

11 PANACEA - n. a cure-all

12 RAPPROCHEMENT n. the establishment or reestablishment of good relations or harmony 13 SCHADENFREUDE n. guilty pleasure one experiences from the suffering of others

14 SCREED n. a long and monotonous speech or letter

15 STYGIAN adj. gloomy, dark, hellish; unbreakable 16 TRADE-LAST n. an overheard compliment one is willing to repeat for hearing another compliment about oneself

1 EXCORIATE v. to abrade; to wear the skin off; to

denounce scathingly

2 EXCULPATE v. to free from blame, to prove to be guiltless

.3 GEMOTLICH adj. agreeable, cheerful, warm

and cozy

4 HANDSEL n. a gift given to wish one good luck for a new year or a new business; the first money received by a new business

5 MINATORY adj. menacing, threatening 6 MINGY adj. mean and stingy

7 NEPENTHE - n. a drug or anything else that helps a person forget pain and sorrow

8 NIGGARDLY -- adj. stingy, especially when called upon to help others

9 NOSTRUM n. a medicine prepared by the person

it with exaggerated claims about its efficacy; a politician's typical approach to solving a problem

COUNTRY MOUSE AND CITY MOUSE

17 BEDIZEN - v. to dress in a gaudy fashion

18 BENIGHTED adj. inexperienced, naive; intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened

19 BOMBILATION - n. a buzzing, a humming sound

20 COGNESCENTE - n. a connoisseur; one with refined tastes, esp. in the fine arts; one "in the know"

21 CONURBATION n. a metropolitan area, a region

that is predominantly urban

GENIUS EDITION

BUIl.OING A PHENOMENAL

strong sense of identity

24 MARTINET n. an officer who is a strict military disciplinarian; one who is a stickler for rigid adherence to rules

25 MELIORISM - n. a theory that holds that the world can be improved with well-directed human action; character

26 METTLE - n, courage; quality of temperament

27 OBSTREPEROUS - adj. stubbornly and loudly defiant; clamorous; unmanageable

28 POLLYANNA n. one who is unduly optimistic

29 PYRRHIC adj. used to describe a victory achieved

at too great a cost

30 SANGFROID n. extraordinary composure,_ even when in danger

31 TRUCULENT adj. ready to fight, pugnacious; fierce;

cruel; deadly; scathing

32 WEAL - n. prosperity, well-being; the general good

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12 ~~CCUBUS n. a female demon who is supposed

to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men; a demon or fiend; a prostitute (the male counterpart of the succubus is the INCUBUS)

13 TERMAGENT

14 UXORIOUS one's wife

15 VIRAGO n. a shrew; a manly woman; a warrior

16 ZAFTIG full-figured, plump

n. a quarrelsome woman, a shrew, a nag excessively submissive to or fond of

17 COMITY n, courtesy, civility

18 DONNYBROOK n. a tempestuous brawl

19 ENCOMIUM n, a eulogy or formal expression of

praise, a panegyric, warm praise

20 EQUIPOISE n, equal in weight or relationship;

equilibrium; a counterbalance

21 ETHNOCENTRIC adj. believing in the supremacy of

one's race or ethnic group

22 FUSILLADE n. a rapid or simultaneous discharge of

many firearms or a firing squad; a rapid outburst in quick succession

23 GEMEINSOiAFT n. a group with similar tastes or a

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FROM MOUNTAINS TO MOLEHILLS: _

1 ECUMENICAL adj. universal, of worldwide scope;

related to the worldwide Catholic church

2 EXIGUOUS adj. scanty, meager

3 GESTALT n. a group or configuration whose individual

GENIUS EDITION

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parts cannot stand alone, nor can they be understood as the summation of their elements

4 .GOOGOL n. ten to the 100th power

5 HOMUNCULUS n. a small human; a tiny human believed by early biologists to live in a sperm cell

6 MODICUM n. a small amount

7 NIGGLE v. to be obsessed with trivialities; to quibble; to constantly find fault with

8 NUGATORY adj. of little importance; ineffective; dull 9 OEUVRE n. the entire body of work by an artist;

a work of art

10 RUBRIC n. a class, concept, or category;

a decorative title or first letter of a book printed or underlined in red

11 SCINTILLA n. an iota, a small amount; a spark

12 SOUP<;:ON n. a tiny bit, a trace, a hint

13 TRICE n. an instant, a short period of time 14 TUMESCENCE n. swelling fullness

15 TURGID adj. grandiloquent, bombastic;

complicated style in language

16 WELTANSCHAUUNG n. one's own world view; a

complete philosophy of the universe

GENIUS EDITION

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:::R.,::O:..:D:.;G:::E:::R:.::S:::_:_A::N.::.:D::_:H:..:A_;.R:_:.T:.__ . _

17 BEGUINE - n. a kind of popular dance associated with Martinique; adj. having a syncopated beat 18 CODEX - n. a volume in manuscript, esp, an ancient one

19 CODICIL- n. an appendix, esp. to a will

20 DULCET adj. melodious, having a nice agreeable sound; soothing

21 EPISTOLARY - adj. relating to letters; contained in letters; written in the form of a series of letters 22 HOOTENANNY n. an informed jam session of singers with participation from the audience;

a "thingamajig"

23 LEITMOTIF n. (music) a repeating theme associated with a particular character (in Wagnerian opera);

a dominant and recurring theme

24 METONYMY - n. a figure of speech in which a word is substituted for a related word with which it is associated

25 PAEAN - adj. an intensely joyous hymn; a jubilant outburst

26 PALINDROME n. a word or phrase whose letters

spell the same thing forward and backward

27 SERIF n. in printing, a little line used on the end of a broad stroke to form the lines of a letter

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17 ANTEDILUVIAN adj. extremely old (with a negative connotation)

18 ATAVISM n. the reappearance or return of a previous trait after a period in which that trait had not appeared; an individual or part that exhibits atavism

19 CALLIPYGIAN adj. having shapely buttocks

20 CREPUSCULAR adj. of or like twilight, dim; active

during twilight (zoological)

21 ETIOLATED adj. whitened or bleached

22 ETIOLOGY

the study of causes or origins;

assignment of cause or a cause of disease

23 EUGENICS n. the study of ways in which to improve

the human race through genetic breeding

24 FETID adj. smelly

25 IGNEOUS relating to fire; formed from a

molten state; related to such rock

26 IMMURE v. to enclose as if within a wall; to entomb in a wall

27 INCHOATE

28 INCIPIENT 29 NASCENT

adj. in an early stage; imperfectly formed adj. beginning to exist or appear

adj. emerging into existence; being born

GENIUS EDITION

30 ONTOGENY n. the development of an organism from conception to adulthood

31 OSSIFY - v. to become bone; to become rigidly conventional; to mold into a conventional pattern 32 TYRO - n. a beginner; one who understands the basics but lacks any experience

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.., SOCRATES AND PLATO

1 COGNITIVE adj. related to thinkinq, or reasoning,

concerning thought

2 DISABUSE v. to correct someone; to clarify a misconception

3 DOCENT n. a non-faculty teacher at some universities 4 EMEND - v. to improve or correct, especially a literary text

5 EXEGESIS - n. a critical analysis, an explanation, or interpretation of a passage, phrase, or word 6 HERMENEUTICS n. the science of interpreting

literature, especially religious texts

7 HORATIVE - adj. giving advice; encouraging; inciting 8 IDEATE - v. to form an idea of, to conceive of

9 ITERATE - v. to say or do again repeatedly

BUILDING A PHENOMENAL VOCABULARY 13

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GENIUS EDITION

10 LASSITUDE n. a state of lethargy, weariness, listlessness

'11 MIMETIC adj. imitative; in art or literature, imitative of the natural world

12 NUMISMATICS n. the study or collection of coins or currency

13 PABLUM n. writing which is oversimplified or bland;

something which is easy to digest

14 PEDAGOGUE - n. a teacher or schoolmaster, one who is pedantic

15 PUERILE - adj. juvenile, immature

16 SISYPHEAN adj. requiring an endless and toilsome

effort; continual and ineffective

17 AEGIS n. protection or sponsorship

18 APHASIA n. loss of the ability to speak or understand spoken or written language

19 DADA n. an absurdist movement in art and literature of the early twentieth century. Also DADAISM.

20 ELEEMOSYNARY adj. involving charity; dependent

uporjchariteble donations

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21 MANQUE adj. unsuccessful or unfulfilled; having

failed to reach a particular goal

22 MASTICATE - v. to chew

23 MOLLYCODDLE - v. to overindulge or pamper;

n. an effeminate boy

24 NONPLUSSED - adj. confused, bewildered; speechless

25 PUSILLANIMOUS adj. cowardly

26 SUI GENERIS adj. unique, of its own kind

27 TOME n. a large and heavy book; an important

book or work of scholarship

28 TROPE - n. a figurative use of language

BUILDING A PH.,NOMENAL VOCABULARY 15