Vocabulary #5

1. acumer: keen insight; shrewdness
"Had he possessed the financial acumen to go with his engineering brilliance, he would have made a fortune."

2. adjudicate: to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence
"Three distinguished members of the committee will adjudicate the claims for compensation."

3. anachronism: something or someone that is incorrectly placed in a historical or chronological time
"I went into the film having resolved not to allow my enjoyment to be spoiled by any historical anachronisms I happened to spot."

4. apocryphal: of doubtful authorship or authenticity
"This story probably apocryphal, but the principle is valid."

5. disparity: lack of similarity or equality; inequal
"Disparity between men and women in the past is almost shocking as well as disgustingly wrong."

6. dissimulate: to disguise or conceal under a false appearance
"It was very difficult for Sara to dissimulate the truth from her friend."

7. empirical: derive from or guided by experience or experiment
"The empirical investigations of scientific history are what make it possible for us to understand science."

8. flamboyant: strikingly bold or brilliant; conspiciously dashing and colorful
"That man is more flamboyant than most of those girls!"

9. fulsome: excessively offensive to good taste; disgusting; sickening
"The fulsome apology was so pathetic there was no way I was taking it seriously."

10. immolate: to sacrifice
"I immolate a lot of things to reach my goal and get exactly what I want for my future."

11. imperceptible: slight, gradual, or subtle
"The imperceptible movement of a root has pushed through the foundations of a wall.

12. lackey: a servile follower; manservant
"He has a lot of lackeys because he's a celebrity."

13. liaison: the contact or connection between units to ensure concerted action
"We were under the command of a royal navy captain who was in close liaison with our own captain."

14. monolithic: made of or containing only one piece
"A huge corporation is often said to be monolithic, especially if it is enormous and powerful and all its parts are dedicated to the same purpose."

15. mot juste: the exact, appropriate word
"Using cuss words to express rage are a rare case where these words are mot juste."

16. nihilism: rejection of establishment laws and institutions
"Teenagers often use nihilism to slash out at the hatred they feel towards the world."

17. patrician: a person of noble or high rank
"A king can be classified as a patrician."

18. propitiate: to make favorably inclined; appeased
"After Hillary Clinton was in the red from her campaign spending, she attempted to propitiate Barrak Obama to procure financial assistance."

19. sic: to attack
"Sic 'em!"

20. sublimate: to make nobler or purer
"The king sublimated the knight for his courageous act of heroism."