VOCABULARY #1

adumbrate: (verb) to outline; give a faint indication of. To foreshadow, to overshadow.
The ending of the novel is already adumbrated in the first chapter.

apotheosis: (noun) the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god; the ideal example.
Her evening outfit represented the apotheosis of formal dressing.

ascetic: (noun) a person who dedicates their life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial for religious reasons; someone who leads an austerely simple life. (adj.) rigorously austere
The ascetic priest lived a very simple, disciplined life.

bauble: (noun) a showy, usually cheap, ornament; trinket
The carnival booths were filled with baubles that I certainly didn't need.

beguile: (verb) to influence by trickery, flattery; to take away from by cheating, deceiving; to pass time pleasantly
He could spin out a tale of intrigue that would beguile publishers into buying his work.

burgeon: (verb) to grow or develop quickly, flourish; to begin to grow
The small town quickly burgeoned into a rather large city.

complement: (noun) something that completes or makes perfect; full quantity; counterpart
These three crops complement each other both in the garden and at the table.

contumacious: (adj.) stubbornly perverse or rebellious
In addition, the criminal can be separately indicted for his contumacious acts.

curmudgeon: (noun) a bad tempered, difficult, cantankerous person
I knew she had a reputation as a bit of curmudgeon, so I didn't choose her as a partner.

didactic: (adj.) instructive; inclined to teach or lecture
I wanted to complete my study by interviewing a series of didactic college professors who would have some good lessons for me.

disingenuous: (adj.) lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity
I was disappointed to hear her excuse, for it was rather disingenuous.

exculpate: (verb) to clear from guilt or fault; freed from blame
Security cameras exculpate people just as well as they incriminate them.

faux pas: (noun) a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct
She seemed shy to her in laws at dinner, but really she was just trying to avoid an embarrassing faux pas.

fulminate: (verb) to explode with a loud noise; to issue denunciations
After the speech, a fulmination of opposition erupted from the audience.

fustian: (noun) a stout fabric of cotton; inflated language; (adj.) pompous or bombastic language
We watched the fustian melodrama happen at our dining room table.

hauteur: (noun) haughty manner or spirit, arrogance
His hauteur may end up hurting him in the election.

inhibit: (verb) to restrain, hinder, prohibit
The stores tough security tends to inhibit loitering.

jeremiad: (noun) a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint
the film serves in part as a caustic jeremiad on the rampant commercialization of the art world.

opportunist: (noun) a person who practices the policy of adapting actions to effectiveness regardless of the sacrifice of ethical principles
He is a political opportunist and his actions have hurt his popularity recently.

unconscionable: (adj.) not guided by conscious; excessive
The court declared the man's actions to be unconscionable.