paucity [ PAW-si-tee ]
[noun]
MEANING:
smallness or scarcity of quantity
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The paucity of evidence against the accused meant that the court could not succeed in convicting him.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
Archaeologists emphasize cultural development, while anthropologists are more hip to genes and favor genetic interpretation. Wade naturally favors genes, though he admits the paucity of evidence.
extinct [ ik-STINGKT ]
[adjective,transitive verb]
MEANING:
1. (adj.) one that is no longer in existence or has died out
2. (adj.) superseded or defunct
3. (adj.) no longer burning or active
4. (tr.v.) (archaic) to extinguish
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
His documentary focused on the extinct animals from the 19th century.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
The bones of a huge extinct camel have been discovered in Syria, a joint Swiss-Syrian team announced last week.
sensitization [ sen-si-tuh-ZEY-shuhn ]
[noun]
MEANING:
1. the state or process of being susceptible
2. the process of becoming susceptible to a particular stimulus that previously had no effect
3. the condition in which a previously encountered foreign substance initiates an immune reaction
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The sensitization of the patient was accomplished by the use of combination drug therapy.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
We believe that this will also work since breast feeding induces protection against sensitization to allergens which is the first step before developing clinical symptoms such as dermatitis, rhinitis or asthma.
prefatory [ pref-uh-TWAR-ee ]
[adjective]
MEANING:
1. introductory or pertaining to a preface
2. characteristic of a preface
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
After a short prefatory announcement the CFO went on to an in depth analysis of the financial statement of the company.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
Ben Jonson writes a prefatory poem to the posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare’s works.
incompatible [ in-kuh’m-PAT-uh’-buh’l ]
[adjective]
MEANING:
1. unable to coexist in harmony or different attributes that cannot simultaneously belong to the same object
2. discordant or opposed in character
3. things that are mutually exclusive or which cannot be simultaneously true
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The husband and wife had filed for divorce on the grounds that they were incompatible as a couple.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
Mirza was officially betrothed to a family friend, Sohrab Mirza, last July in a lavish ceremony but broke off the engagement in January, saying that they had “”found ourselves incompatible””.