VOCABULARY #6

abase - cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Example:  I will enjoy abasing you in front of your peers, just when you feel most secure.

abdicate - to cast off; to give up power (as in government)
Example:  The king's choices were abdication or death; he chose the first.

abomination - an action that is vicious or vile; an person or thing that arouses disgust or abhorrence
Example:  It was only after releasing my art to the world that I realized what an abomination it truly was.

brusque - marked by rude or peremptory shortness
Example:  The brusque secretary angered me like no one else had all week.

saboteur - someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
Example:  The saboteur surveyed the oil refinery as he planned his attack.

debauchery - a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
Example:  I am in need of some Boardwalk Empire style debauchery.

proliferate - cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
Example:  She stared at the ringing phone, hesitant to answer it, knowing that it would either proliferate her career or destroy it entirely.

anachronism - an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
Example:  His car was an anachronism; it seemed to have come straight from the 1920s yet looked brand new.

nomenclature - a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
Example:  I couldn't care less about your nomenclature- I'll stick with slang.

expurgate - edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Example:  The editor tried to expurgate the journalist's article, but did not accomplish much.

bellicose - having or showing a ready disposition to fight
Example:  The skinny figure stood in the doorway, all bones and no muscle, but I saw in his bellicose eyes that he would not hesitate to break my neck.

gauche - lacking social polish
Example:  She assumed she was much more gauche than she actually was, and was embarrassed over the littlest things.

rapacious - excessively greedy and grasping
Example:  The rapacious businessman using a tragedy to make a profit made me sick.

paradox - a statement that contradicts itself
Example:  Existence is a paradox in itself.

conundrum - a difficult problem
Example:  I threw my textbook out the window after the conundrum wiggled around in my brain for over an hour.

anomaly - a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule
Example:  The anomalous test score prompted the teacher to investigate a student for cheating, even though the cause of the high score was studying.

ephemeral - lasting a very short time; anything short-lived
Example:  The night was ephemeral- and we knew that when the sun rose the police would hunt us down.

rancorous - showing deep-seated resentment
Example:  I will not apologize to you for my rancorous behavior; you deserve it.

churlish - having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish
Example:  The churlish man under his purple shirt and black sunglasses smiled like a smug little bitch as he deprived me of my supposed "rights."

precipitous - characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation
Example:  The precipitous novel received mixed reviews- some called it rushed, others called it an amazing achievement.