Vocabulary WordsWord of the Day – November 1. vague – adjective – not clear in meaning or intention At 2. justify – verb – to give a reason or detailed explanation of why something was done Reasons, facts, and details are used in a paragraph to justify and support the topic sentence. 3. philanthropy – noun – a desire to improve the world through charitable contributions of time, money, or talents Mother Teresa’s “Sisters of Charity” in 4. metamorphosis – noun – a complete change of physical form, appearance, character, or condition; transformation Sedimentary rock undergoes a metamorphosis in order to turn into coal. 5. vertical – adjective – in an upright position; positioned at a right angle to the horizon. Where a vertical line intersects a horizontal line, a 90-degree right angle is formed. 6. horizontal – adjective – measured or operating in the plane parallel to the horizon If two horizontal lines are parallel, they will never intersect. 7. conflagration – noun – a large fire that causes a great deal of damage The infamous 8. tentative – adjective – said or done in a slow, hesitant way that reveals a lack of confidence; likely to have changes before becoming final and complete The rough draft was tentative until my teacher was able to give me advice on how to make meaningful revisions. 9. contradiction – noun – something that has aspects that are not logical or are inconsistent with each other; a statement that opposes or disagrees with somebody or something. When my brother told our parents we spent the night at John’s house, and I told my parents that we spent the night at Tyler’s house, we were caught in a contradiction that led to the unfortunate discovery that we were really at the county skate park most of the night. 10. ironic – adjective – involving a surprising or contradictory fact; something that takes a surprising turn. 11. gratitude – noun – a feeling of being thankful to somebody; appreciation; During the Thanksgiving season, people try to have an “attitude of gratitude” for all their many blessings. 12. cornucopia – noun – a horn-shaped container filled to overflowing with fruits, flowers, or vegetables to symbolize, or represent, an abundance of blessings or prosperity. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, my grandmother has a cornucopia filled with fruit as the centerpiece on her dining room table as a symbol of all the blessings our family has enjoyed throughout the year. 13. assessment – noun – a method of evaluating student performance and attainment of educational concepts; a judgment based on a person’s understanding of a subject Student assessment at 14. proficient – adjective – having a high degree of skill in something, or a level of comprehension that is above average; At
Word of the Day – October 2008 1. marathon – noun - a long distance foot race; a race just over 26 milesin length; a lengthy, or difficult task; a test of endurance Mr. Tencza, Dean of Students at 2. alacrity – noun - to move with a sense of quickness and purpose Parents often tell slow-footed children to “kick it into gear” and to move with a sense of alacrity to they don’t get left behind. 3. melodrama – noun – a drama or other literary work characterized by stereotyped or “stock” characters, exaggerated emotions and language,simplistic morality, and a “good guy vs. bad guy” type of simplistic plot 4. timbre – noun – the quality or color of a sound; the quality of the tone of an instrument or voice that allows the listener to distinguish between the sounds even if the pitch and loudness are the same; synonym: resonance Timbre is what, with a little practice, people use to distinguish the saxophone from the trumpet in a jazz group – even if both instruments are at the same pitch and loudness. 5. adage – noun – a short, wise saying similar to a maxim or a proverb Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac is full of adages like, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” 6. cumulus – adjective – a large white or gray cloud with a flat base and a fluffy top developing as a result of rising hot air currents When the sky is bright blue and accented with groupings of fluffy, white cumulus clouds, I often imagine seeing faces and objects floating by.
7. decathlon - noun – a contest in which athletes compete in ten different track- and-field events and are awarded points for each to find the best all-around athlete. The events are long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, javelin, 110-meter hurdles, and running over 100 meters, 400 meters, and 1,500 meters.
Bruce Jenner is one of the most famous Olympic gold medal decathlon winners; therefore, his face appeared on many Wheaties’ boxes. 8. democracy – noun – a system of government as practiced in the The 9. dubious – adjective – not sure about the outcome is dishonest, untrustworthy, or morally worrisome in some way. Robbing “Peter” to pay “Paul” is a dubious way to do business! 10. ambiguous – adjective – having more than one possible meaning or interpretation; causing uncertainty or confusion. The results of the scientific experiment were ambiguous because the test samples got overheated when the power in th lab failed during Hurricane Ike. 11. hypothesis – noun - a tentative theory or intelligent guess used as a basis for further investigation. Scientists have many different hypotheses to explain why the last “Ice Age” ended. 12. mnemonic – a short rhyme, phrase, or other mental technique for making information easier to memorize The nonsense tongue twister that goes: “Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter’s bitter, if I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter…so Betty Botter bought some better butter, and she put the better butter in her bitter batter and it made her bitter batter better” is a mnemonic device used to teach students about the sound device, alliteration. J Word of the Day – September 2008
4. metaphor – noun – a comparison of two uniquely different things without using the words like or as to make the comparison When my mother says, “Listening to Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at Christmastime is church to me,” she is using a metaphor to express herself.
7. scrutinize – verb – to observe or examine carefully When examining a diamond, a jeweler will scrutinize the gem under a high-powered microscope.
9. antagonist – noun – a major character in a book, play, or movie whose values or behavior are in conflict with those of the protagonist or hero. The antagonist in Mildred Taylor’s novel, The Well is Charlie Simms, who is a racist and a bully.
10. anaerobic – adjective – not needing oxygen; living or taking place in the absence of oxygen, especially not requiring oxygen for metabolism In anaerobic exercises, like weight lifting, the body creates energy without using oxygen. 11. admonish – verb – to advise someone to do or not to do something; to rebuke someone mildly, but earnestly.The policeman admonished the young driver to be sure and wear her seatbelt, and to never drive under the influence of alcohol.
16. facetious – adjective – intended to be humorous, but often silly or inappropriate 17. ominous – adjective – threatening; suggesting or indicating that something bad is going to happen or be revealed Scary music during the second act of the play, “The Monkey’s Paw” gave the audience an ominous feeling. 18. omniscient – adjective – all knowing; seeing or knowing everything that happens or is about to happen. An advantage of an omniscient point of view in a story is that the reader can get into the minds of all of the characters and know their thoughts. |
Last modified: Tuesday, 2 December 2008, 12:30 PM