Vocab #4

Vocab #4

apostate: a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.

Judas was considered by many to have been an apostate of Christianity.

effusive: unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve, pouring out; overflowing:

 The union was very effusive in their riot against the steel company.

impasse: a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock

When the teacher called on him to summarize the story he hadn’t read he was in an impasse.

euphoria: a state of intense happiness and self-confidence:

After taking the gold at the Olympics the athlete was thrown into euphoria and celebrated his achievement.

lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner:

After not placing in the Olympics on his fifth return he was left in a lugubrious mood.

bravado: a pretentious, swaggering display of courage ,brag, bluster, bombast, braggadocio:
Beowolf is a character that can be described as having a bravado role in his Epic, due to his heroic actions.

consensus: majority of opinion:

The group came to a consensus of when to hold their weekly meetings.  

dichotomy: division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
Our government is a dichotomy between republicans and democrats.

constrict :to draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink; compress or to slow or stop the natural course or development of

Work on the building was constricted due to bad weather

gothic: pertaining to the Middle Ages; medieval.

Many churches in Europe were designed in a gothic style pertaining to the time they were built.

punctilio: a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure or strictness
A punctilio in the colts secret greeting was to never look each other in the eye.

metamorphosis: a complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft.

The caterpillar went through metamorphosis to become a butterfly.

raconteur: a person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly.

Dr. Preston is a very good raconteur when describing ideas in class.

sine qua non: an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential:

A sine qua non in chocolate milk is milk.

quixotic: extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
Don Quijote is a very quixotic character in his adventures which included fighting windmills.

vendetta:any prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry, contention, or the like

Romeo and Juliet’s families had a vendetta.

non sequitur: is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premises.In a non sequitur, the conclusion can be either true or false, but the argument is fallacious because the conclusion does not follow from the premise. All formal fallacies are special cases of non sequitur.

mystique: a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.

quagmire: an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.

a situation from which extrication is very difficult: a quagmire of financial indebtedness.

After stating he hated Mexicans the man was stuck in a quagmire in the Vallarta grocery store.

 

parlous: dangerous

The building of the house on an area known to have landslides was a parlous decision.