Vocabulary: Fall List #9

Abortive: failing to produce the intended result
"The Los Angeles Lakers were abortive after going 0-82 during the regular season."

Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
"My friend bruited that I had failed my English final, when in reality I had aced it!"

Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
"A contumelious person is most likely a strongly disliked person."

Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle
"The President must make dictum's during the debates or his popularity will diminish."

Ensconce: establish or settle
"After I punished my friend in Battle Ship, I ensconced my dominance over him."

Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions
"A terrorist can be seen as a true iconoclastic by frightening those who seem powerless."

In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
"I find in medias res to be quite annoying!"

Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
"The nuclear bomb proved to be internecine for both sides."

Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy
"Basketball is a game in which being maladroit cannot be accepted."

Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
"The maudlin woman could not take herself away from the bar."

Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
"Parents often modulate rules for their children to prevent them from running into trouble."

Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
"Without realizing his portentous actions, the husband made an incredibly self-centered remark."

Prescience: the power to foresee the future
"With precise prescience, I believe I could have a much better control on my life."

Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
"The quid pro quo I had used to find a date to homecoming was given to me after I helped my friend find a date as well."

Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down
"I was given a salubrious amount of turkey on Thanksgiving day."

Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
"The dance was anything but a Saturnalia."

Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized
"Without a touchstone, the Olympic athletes would not be able to compete at the highest level."

Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
"I find that traumatic scenes in movies are actually quite humorous."

Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.
"The racer decided to cheat and vitiate his competitor's car."

Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
"Children often become the most waggish when surrounded by other children."