VOCABULARY #8

abase: (verb) to reduce or lower, as in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; humble; degrade
The president was abased after the decision he made turned out to be harmful for the country.

abdicate: (verb) to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner
Many parent's think it is acceptable to abdicate their responsibility to their children.

abomination: (noun) anything greatly disliked or abhorred
She was considered to be the abomination of the otherwise perfect family.

brusque: (adj.) abrupt in manner; blunt; rough
His brusque comment shocked the conservative audience.

saboteur: (noun) a person who commits or practices sabotage
We voted her off the island when it become clear she was a saboteur.

debauchery: (noun) excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance
The debauchery of the church group was quite shocking.

proliferate: (verb) to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively
The number of police officers in the city will proliferate due to the increase in crime

anachronism: (noun) something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time
The digital watch in the movie Titanic is an anachronism.

nomenclature: (noun) the names or terms comprising a set or system
The basic nomenclature of the computer system was confusing.

expurgate: (verb) to purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness
Her speech had to be expurgated before she presented it to the public.

bellicose: (adj.) inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious
His bellicose attitude eventually led to one to many fights and he got suspended.

gauche: (adj.) lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless
Having dinner at their mansion always made me feel like I had gauche manners.

rapacious: (adj.) given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed; inordinately greedy; predatory
The rapacious emperor didn't have much popularity among the people.

paradox: (noun) a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth
I saw the paradoxical saying "The only thing constant is change" on a poster at school.

conundrum: (noun) anything that puzzles
He was seeking help for the difficult conundrum that he was in.

anomaly: (noun): a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form; abnormality, exception, peculiarity.
The doctor told him that his condition was an anomaly.

ephemeral: (adj.) lasting a very short time
Her initial feelings of joy were ephemeral.

rancorous: (adj.) showing resentment.
The teenager's parents were constantly calling her rancorous.

churlish: (adj.) boorish, rude, mean
The churlish boy didn't have any friends at school.

precipitous: (adj.) extremely or impassably steep
The precipitous mountain looked daunting.