VOCABULARY #3

apostate: (noun) one who forsakes his/her religion, party, or cause.
My brother converted to Islam after he got married and some call him an apostate.

bravado: (noun) a display of false or assumed courage.
We listened to him brag about how he would take down his opponent easily, but we knew it was all just bravado.

consensus: (noun) a collective or general agreement of opinion, feeling, or thinking.
My sister and I hardly ever agree but we were able to reach a consensus on what we wanted to have for dinner.

constrict: (verb) to make smaller or narrower, draw together, squeeze; to stop or cause to falter.
Even eating the smallest bit of any peanut product will constrict her airway.

dichotomy: (noun) a division into two contradictory or mutually exclusive parts; a branching or forking in an ancestral line.
It is impossible to try to understand the problems our world faces through the dichotomy of right and wrong.

effusive: (adj.) highly demonstrative; unrestrained.
They greeted me with such an effusive attitude, I felt very welcomed!

euphoria: (noun) a feeling of great happiness or well-being, often with no objective basis.
After I read the acceptance letter from my dream school, I was in a state of euphoria and nothing could bring me down.

gothic: (adj.) characterized by or emphasizing a gloomy setting and grotesque or violent events; such a literary or artistic style; a type of medieval architecture.
Her taste in gothic novels is too gloomy for me.

impasse: (noun) a dead end; a position from which there is no escape; a problem to which there is no solution.
We had reached impasse, there was no way we were going to agree on this issue.

lugubrious: (adj.) sad, mournful, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree.
My two-year old has perfected her lugubrious expression she uses when I don't let her watch TV.

metamorphosis: (noun) a complete transformation, as if by magic.
After the earthquake, our house underwent a complete metamorphosis.

mystique: (noun) an aura or attitude of mystery or veneration surrounding something or someone.
The mystique that surrounded her made her a very intriguing person.

non sequitur: (noun) an inference or conclusion that does not follow logically from the facts or premises.
He tried to end our argument with a non sequitur that didn't really have anything to do with the situation at hand.

parlous: (adj.) full of danger or risk, perilous.
Walking home alone at night can be a very parlous situation in my neighborhood.

punctilio: (noun) a minute detail of conduct or procedure; an instant of time.
Because of her OCD, she cannot leave the house without checking every punctilio several times.

quagmire: (noun) a difficult or entrapping situation; soft, soggy mud or slush.
Committing the small crime launched her into an awful quagmire that she would never get past.

quixotic: (adj.) extravagantly or romantically idealistic; visionary without regard to practical considerations.
She painted a quixotic picture of her future but she made no solid plans to accomplish her goals.

raconteur: (noun) a person who tells stories and anecdotes with great skill.
My friends often call my mom a raconteur because she always enthralls them with her stories.

sine qua non: (noun) an essential or indispensable element or condition.
She forgot the most important sine qua non for test taking, a good nights sleep.

vendetta: (noun) a prolonged feud, often between two families, characterized by retaliatory acts of revenge; any act of motivated vengeance.
The vendetta going on between my two best friends is absolutely unbearable.