Table of Contents
Mulct
Verb Meaning: To defraud or swindle; to extract money (by fine or taxation)
Usage: The so called magical diet simply ended up MULCTING Vishwanath out of hundreds of rupees, but did nothing for her weight.
Mettlesome
Adjective Meaning: Filled with courage or valor; spirited and brave
Usage: Robin Hood was a mettlesome young man who was brave and spirited enough to take from the rich and give to the poor
Gerrymander
Verb Meaning: To manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party
Usage: Several years ago, savvy (knowledgeable) politicians had gerrymandered the city center to ensure their re-election
Malapropism
Noun Meaning: The confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar
Usage: Whenever she looked sad, her mother would offer to share an ‘amusing antidote’ with her- an endearing malapropism of ‘anecdote’ that never failed to cheer the young girl
Pollyannaish
Adjective Meaning: Extremely optimistic
Usage: Even in the midst of a lousy sales quarter, Vishwanath remained Pollyannaish, never losing his shrill voice and wide smile
Vituperate
Verb Meaning: To criticize harshly; to berate; to insult or verbally attack someone
Usage: To vituperate someone is almost as bad as assaulting them physically
Fell
Adjective Meaning: Terribly evil
Usage: The fell disease was threatening the family
Arriviste (arri-we-est)
Noun Meaning: A person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber
Usage: The arrivistes had cash but no class according to the elites
Similar words: Nouveau riche, Parvenu, upstart
Hedge
Verb Meaning: To limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement; confine
Usage: The CEO hedged, mentioning something vague about his gut instinct
Martinet
Noun Meaning: A strict disciplinarian; a person who demands complete obedience
Usage: The job seemed perfect to Vishwanath, until he found out that his boss was a total MARTINET. After each project the boss would come by to scrutinize and inevitably criticize every little detail of the work Vishwanath had done.
Quisling
Noun Meaning: A traitor
Usage: The PM warned that all quislings would be punished without mercy
Quixotic
Adjective Meaning: Wildly idealistic; impractical
Usage: Several startups have quixotic plans to be the next big name in e-commerce. However, only a handful ever become profitable
Histrionic
Adjective Meaning: To be overly theatrical
Usage: Even though she received a B on the test, she had such a histrionic outburst that one would have thought that she has been handed a death sentence
Limpid
Adjective Meaning: Having clarity in terms of expression
Usage: Her limpid prose made even the most recondite subjects accessible to all
Recondite
Obscure
Esoteric
Complex
Complicated
Curmudgeon
Noun Meaning: A grouchy, surly person
Usage: Uncle Mike was the family curmudgeon
Invective
Noun Meaning: Abusive or denunciatory language; abusive language to criticize
Usage: The politician’s invective about his opponent caused him many votes in the election
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