Vocabulary #20

English 2 Vocab List 20

1. augment; verb - to increase or enlarge; to become greater in size.  If we augment our arms stockpile, our enemies will do the same.

2. conspicuous; adjective - clearly visible; remarkable. With her green punk hairdo, Tina was the most conspicuous guest at the party.

3.  dissipated; adjective - given to indulging excessively in sensual pleasures.  As the weeks went by, the portrait slowly took on a dissipated look while the models face remained cryptically youthful.

4.  extol; verb - to praise highly. It's my intention to extol Bonnie's successful fund-raising efforts at our next club meeting.

5.  insurgent; noun - one who rises in revolt.  Government representation questioned the insurgent sharply but he remained silently and impassive.

6.  ponderous; adjective - very heavy; bulky; labored and dull or tiresome.  Modern science has not yet solved the mystery of how the Aztecs were able to lift ponderous stones with their meager tools.

7.  respite; noun - a temporary cessation or postponement, usually of something disagreeable; interval of rest. The union leader announced, "We are too close to victory to take a respite from our labors."

8.  solemn; adjective - observed or done according to ritual or tradition; formal; serious or earnest; arousing  feelings of awe; very impressive.  Before giving testimony in court, a witness is a required to take a solemn oath that he or she will tell the whole truth.

9.  trepidation; noun - a trembling; apprehension; a state of alarm and dread.  The memory of Black Monday has filled the investors with trepidation about risking more of their money in the stock market.

10. voracious; adjective - ravenous; greedy; gluttonous. Since her junior year, Susan has been a voracious worker.

11. austere; adjective - stern in manner or appearance; strict in morals. Their household, governed by an austere father, was a humorless and unhappy place.

12. copious; adjective - abundant. Professor Highet gave us copious notes throughout his course on Dante.

13. distraught; adjective - in a state of mental conflict and confusion; distracted. Ophelia's distraught brother flung himself into her grave and uttered a bombastic challenge to Hamlet.

14. intemperate; adjective - lacking in self-control. Intemperate at the dinner table, Hudson's weight ballooned to 300 pounds.

15. pragmatic; adjective - practical; opinionated; concerned with actual practice rather than with theory or speculation. The public opinion poll has been accepted as a pragmatic way of determining the thinking of the people at a given point in time.