Daily Vocabulary

1. Daily Vocabulary Academic English 11

2. Week 1 1. austere (aw STEER) adj. stern ex. Jill’s father was austere with her about having dates with boys he didn’t know.

3. Week 1 2. lament (la MINT) v. to express sorrow or regret; to mourn ex. The nation lamented the passing of the President while at the same time celebrated his achievements while in office.

4. Week 1 3. voracious (vo RAY shus) adj. having an insatiable appetite ex. Teenage boys tend to be voracious eaters.

5. Week 1 4. officious (uh FISH us) adj. offering unwanted services or advice ex. The officious waitress would not go away even when Jennifer told her that she wanted only coffee.

6. Week 1 5. candor (CAN dur) n. truthfulness, sincere honesty ex. Without regard to feelings, our teacher said she would criticize our term papers with absolute candor.

7. Week 2 1. impede (im PEED) v. to delay; to interfere with ex. My uncle always told me not to let anyone impede my ambition to go to medical school.

8. Week 2 2. onerous (AHN ur us) adj. troublesome or oppressive; burdensome ex. After our truck ran out of gas, we had the onerous task of pushing it two miles to the nearest gas station.

9. Week 2 3. gregarious (gruh GAIR ee us) adj. sociable ex. Paige was so gregarious that she hated to be alone.

10. Week 2 4. pious (PI us) adj. devout or virtuous; holy ex. Elizabeth was pious, saying her prayers every night before bed.

11. Week 2 5. evade (ee VADE) v. to avoid by cunning; to flee from a pursuer ex. Jane always managed to evade helping her sister wash the dinner dishes by claiming she had homework to do.

12. Week 3 1. attrition (ah TRISH un) n. a gradual reduction ex. The war became a battle of attrition, each side wearing down the other.

13. Week 3 2. edification (ED ihfihkay shun) n. enlightenment; instruction ex. We would have been lost at the art show had not programs been provided for our edification.

14. Week 3 3. writhe (ryth) v. to suffer acutely, as in pain or embarrassment ex. Tina writhed when the class heard she failed chemistry for the third time.

15. Week 3 4. carrion (KAIR ee un) n. dead and rotting flesh ex. After mauling its prey, the lion left the carrion to the hyenas.

16. Week 3 5. petulant (PET you lant) adj. ill humored, irritable, cranky ex. The petulant teacher slammed down her book and stalked angrily from the classroom.

17. Week 4 1. pinion (PIN yun) v. confine ex. The handcuffs were used to pinion his hands.

18. Week 4 2. incite (en SIGHT) v. to arouse to action ex. Waving a stick at Jerry’s dog only incites him and increases the chance he will bite you.

19. Week 4 3. ambivalence (am BIV ah lents) n. indecision; experiencing contradictory emotions ex. Jeb’s ambivalence about which diet to choose made him disregard the whole idea of losing weight.

20. Week 4 4. nullify (NUL ihfy) v. to make useless; cancel; undo ex. The purchase contract could be nullified because it had never been signed by the buyer.

21. Week 4 5. embroil (im BROYL) v. to involve in argument or hostile action ex. Most of the civilized world was embroiled in conflict during World War II.

22. Week 5 1. bludgeon (BLUD jun) v. to strike or knock down ex. The police arrested the lumberjack on suspicion of bludgeoning a co-worker with an axe handle.

23. Week 5 2. abate (ah BAIT) v. to reduce ex. Marta’s defeat in the tennis tournament did not abate her zeal for the game.

24. Week 5 3. lithe (lythe) adj. bending easily and gracefully ex. The lithe ballerina stretched her muscles before her performance.

25. Week 5 4. askew (uh skew) adj. to one side; crooked ex. After the flood receded, the bridge was found to be askew of the road which connected to it.

26. Week 5 5. aptitude (ap TUH tude) n. natural ability ex. Chris has had a champion’s aptitude for tennis since she was four years old.

27. Week 6 1. travail (tre VAYL) n. strenuous physical or mental labor ex. When he saw his flourishing crops, he realized his travail had been worth it.

28. Week 6 2. intrepid (in TREP id) adj. fearless; bold ex. The bullfighter was intrepid as he stood in the arena before the fierce bull.

29. Week 6 3. atrophy (AT ruh fee) v. to wither away ex. The author’s interest in writing atrophied after he won the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

30. Week 6 4. muster (MUS tur) v. to collect or gather ex. The Texans at the Alamo mustered all the troops available to defend against the invading Mexican army.

31. Week 6 5. incessant (in SES unt) adj. continuing without interruption; nonstop ex. The incessant rain flooded the front yard.

32. Week 7 1. scrutinize (SKROOT uh nyze) v. to look very carefully; to examine ex. Newspaper proofreaders scrutinize an entire newspaper each day.

33. Week 7 2. eloquent (EL oh kwent) adj. extremely expressive in speech, writing, or movement ex. Stan gave a moving, eloquent speech.

34. Week 7 3. eminent (EM ihnent) adj. standing out; distinguished; prominent ex. Michael Jordan is considered one of the most eminent basketball players of the 20th century.

35. Week 7 4. prudent (PROOD ent) adj. cautious; exercising good judgment ex. Michele decided it would be prudent to ignore the insult and walk away from such a hateful girl.

36. Week 7 5. idyllic (eye DIL ik) adj. charming in a rustic way; naturally peaceful ex. Chuck and Cathy bought an idyllic cabin in the Smoky Mountains.

37. Week 8 1. choleric (KAHL urik) adj. hot-tempered; quick to anger ex. When my dad gets in one of his choleric moods, everyone stays clear.

38. Week 8 2. aspire (as PIRE) v. to hope to achieve a goal ex. Tim aspired to be the valedictorian of his class at graduation and studied hard to reach that goal.

39. Week 8 3. consensus (kun SEN sus) n. general agreement ex. The consensus of the faculty was that no more chili dogs were to be served at the school lunch.

40. Week 8 4. defunct (dee FUNGKT) adj. dead or inactive ex. Latin is a defunct language.

41. Week 8 5. callow (KAL oh) adj. immature and inexperienced ex. The callow boater did not have a life preserver or a radio onboard his sailboat.

42. Week 9 1. palpable (PAL pahbul) adj. capable of being touched or felt ex. The palpable imagery helps make the poem more realistic.

43. Week 9 2. adroit (ah DROIT) adj. skillful ex. Many fourth graders are more adroit on the computer than their parents.

44. Week 9 3. resurgent (re surjent) adj. possessing the ability to rise after defeat ex. The resurgent little boy was determined to ride his bike without training wheels.

45. Week 9 4. gird (gyrd) v. to encircle ex. Jack hoped he could stop the invasion of weeds from his neighbor’s yard by girding his lawn with a pre-emergent herbicide.

46. Week 9 5. fathom (fa THUM) v. to understand fully ex. The jury found it hard to fathom how the defendant could commit such a terrible crime.

47. Week 10 1. sedentary (SED en teree) adj. characterized by or requiring much sitting; accustomed to little exercise ex. Because of a stroke, the normally active woman was forced to lead a more sedentary life.

48. Week 10 2. entice (in TICE) v. to lure, to attract ex. The delicious aroma of a hamburger stand often entices the passerby to stop for a snack.

49. Week 10 3. languish (LANG gwish) v. to become weak ex. Because of the extreme heat on the soccer field, Charlotte began to languish.

50. Week 10 4. remorse (re MORSE) n. a strong feeling of sadness or guilt for having done something wrong ex. The remorse we feel for hurting those we love is the beginning of being able to say we’re sorry.