VOCABULARY #5

obsequious: (adj.) obedient, dutiful; characterized by showing servile complaisance or deference.
When he's around me, he is noisy and rude but when he's with his parents, he is quite obsequious.

beatitude: (noun) a state of perfect happiness or blessedness; a blessing.
She was in beatitude after she got her acceptance letter to Berkeley.

bete noire: (noun) someone or something than one especially dislikes, dreads, or avoids.
You could tell that he was obviously the bete noire of the group by the way everyone else avoided him.

bode: (verb) to be an omen of; to indicate by signs.
The cloudy sky did not bode well for our trip to the beach.

dank: (adj.) unpleasantly damp or wet.
They were afraid of what might be living in the dank cave.

ecumenical: (adj.) worldwide or universal in influence or application.
The ecumenical  news station quickly became very popular.

fervid: (adj.) burning with enthusiasm or zeal; extremely heated.
She gave a very fervid speech to her team before the CIF game.

fetid: (adj.) having an unpleasant or offensive odor.
I walked into the fetid office and immediately searched for a window to open.

gargantuan: (adj.) of immense size, volume, or capacity; enormous, prodigious.
Tackling college applications all at once can seem like a gargantuan task at first, but by breaking it down into a little bit each day, the task becomes more do-able.

heyday: (noun) the period of greatest power, vigor, success, or influence; the prime years.
Freshmen year was definitely not the heyday of my high school career.

incubus: (noun) a demon or evil spirit supposed to haunt human beings in their bedrooms at night; anything that oppresses or weighs upon one, like a nightmare.
After watching The Conjuring I was convinced that there an incubus hiding in my room.

infrastructure: (noun) a basic foundation or framework; a system of public works; the resources and facilities required for an activity; permanent military installations.
The candidate promised to fix the city's infrastructure on certain buildings if he was elected as mayor.

inveigle: (verb) to entice, lure, or snare by flattery or artful inducements; to obtain or acquire by artifice.
She finally inveigled me to come to her performance after she told me how much my opinion mattered to her.

kudos: (noun) the acclaim, prestige, or renown that comes as a result of some action or achievement.
She received kudos from her teacher for setting a high curve on the test but not so much from her classmates.

lagniappe: (noun) an extra or unexpected gift or gratuity.
During the holiday season, the boss of the company gave all of his employees lagniappe to show his appreciation.

prolix: (adj.) long-winded and wordy; tending to speak or write in such a way.
People often tried to avoid him because he was known to give prolix stories if you stopped to talk with him.

protege: (noun) someone whose welfare, training, or career is under the patronage of an influential person; someone under the jurisdiction of a foreign country or government.
The protege of the once famous dancer may soon become world renowned herself.

prototype: (noun) an original pattern or model; a primitive or ancestral form.
The prototype for the new phone is currently being developed and the final product will be released sometime next year.

sycophant: (noun) someone who attempts to win favors or advance him or herself  by flattery or servile behavior; a slanderer, defamer.
A sycophant probably doesn't have any real friends.

tautology: (noun) needless repetition of an idea by using different but equivalent words; a redundancy.
His essay had good ideas and points, but was filled with too much tautology.

truckle: (verb) to yield or submit tamely or submissively.
She refused to truckle to anyone and was determined to make her own path in life.