JUNE THREAD - Updated regularly

Make sure to do all words from previous threads also...

1. Legerdemain - A show of skill or deceitful cleverness; the use of skillful tricks and deceptions to produce entertainingly baffling effects
2. Martinet - A strict disciplinarian, especially in the armed forces; one who demands absolute adherence to forms and rules
3. Pelf - Wealth or riches, especially when dishonestly acquired
4. Impecunious - Lacking money; penniless
5. Eulogy - A laudatory speech or written tribute, especially one praising
someone who has died; high praise or commendation
6. Saga - Epic tale, long story; a long detailed report
7. Repugnant - Arousing disgust or aversion; offensive or repulsive; bad, obnoxious; hostile; offensive to the mind
8. Proffer - To offer for acceptance; tender; suggest, offer; to put before another for acceptance
9. Countenance - Appearance, especially the expression of the face; face or facial features; look or expression indicative of encouragement or of moral support; give sanction or support to; tolerate or approve; disposition of the facial features that conveys meaning, feeling, or mood
10. Placebo - A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well; inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug; something of no intrinsic remedial value that is used to appease or reassure another; service or office of vespers for the dead
11. Excoriate - To tear or wear off the skin of; abrade; censure strongly; denounce; make (the skin) raw by or as if by friction; criticize harshly and devastatingly; criticize very severely
12. Burgeoning - To put forth new buds, leaves, or greenery; sprout; grow or develop rapidly; flourish
13. Inexplicable - Difficult or impossible to explain or account for; beyond comprehension, explanation; which cannot be explained or understood
14. Pedestrian - A person traveling on foot; a walker; lacking liveliness, charm, or surprise
15. Aggrievance - Oppression; hardship; injury; grievance; feeling distress or affliction; treated wrongly; offended; treated unjustly, as by denial of or infringement upon one's legal rights; very distressed; feeling burdened
16. Invigorating - Producing or stimulating physical, mental, or emotional vigor; stimulating; imparting strength and vitality
17. Panorama - An unbroken view of an entire surrounding area; comprehensive presentation; a survey; picture or series of pictures representing a continuous scene, often exhibited a part at a time by being unrolled and passed before the spectator; mental vision of a series of events; building containing an exhibit of an extended pictorial representation of landscape or some event of note; usually depicted of a large, wide area; clear and open view in all directions
18. Insalubrious - Not promoting health; unwholesome; not sustaining or promoting health; detrimental to health
19. Prate - To talk idly and at length; chatter; utter idly or to little purpose; empty, foolish, or trivial talk; talk long and foolishly; babble, blather; talk volubly, persistently, and usually inconsequentially
20. Dissolute - Lacking moral restraint; indulging in sensual pleasures or vices; immoral; Indulgent in vices
21. Sedulous - Persevering and constant in effort or application; assiduous; characterized by steady attention and effort; diligent
22. Agrarian - Relating to or concerning the land and its ownership, cultivation, and tenure; r to agricultural or rural matters; intended to further agricultural interests; person who favors equitable distribution of land
23. Affable - Easy and pleasant to speak to; approachable; g and gracious; friendly; c by kindness and warm, unaffected courtesy
24. Rant - To speak or write in an angry or violent manner; rave; utter or express with violence or extravagance; speak in a loud, pompous, or prolonged manner; pretentious, pompous speech or writing; yelling, raving; speech or piece of writing that incites anger or violence
25. Gregarious - Seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable; polite, easygoing, and friendly
26. Pugnacious - Combative in nature; belligerent; having or showing an eagerness to fight
27. Pulchritude - Great physical beauty and appeal; physical beauty (especially of a woman)
28. Scission - The act of cutting or severing; division or fission; the act of dividing by cutting or splitting
29. Pulsatile - Undergoing pulsation; vibrating; characterized by a rhythmic pulsation
30. Arabesque - A ballet position in which the dancer bends forward while standing on one straight leg with the arm extended forward and the other arm and leg extended backward; complex, ornate design of intertwined floral, foliate, and geometric figures; ornate, whimsical composition especially for piano; intricate or elaborate pattern or design
31. Chip - A small broken or cut off piece, as of wood, stone, or glass; crack or flaw caused by the removal of a small piece; small disk or counter used in poker and other games to represent money
32. Crutch - A means or device that keeps something erect, stable, or secure; a support used under the arm by an injured person to help in walking; a staff or support used by the physically injured or disabled as an aid in walking, usually designed to fit under the armpit and often used in pairs
33. Debauchee - A person who habitually indulges in debauchery or dissipation; a libertine; a dissolute person; usually a man who is morally unrestrained
34. Puckish - Mischievous; impish; naughtily or annoyingly playful
35. Abrogate - To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority; formally put an end to
36. Laconic - Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise; short, to the point
37. Taciturn - Disinclined to speak. or inclined to silence; untalkative
38. Flounder - To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance
39. Resilience - The ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune; buoyancy; property of a material that enables it to resume its original shape or position after being bent, stretched, or compressed; elasticity; flexibility; strength of character
40. Erudition - Deep, extensive learning; higher education; known facts, ideas, and skill that have been imparted; extensive knowledge of literature, history and language
41. Hoary - Gray or white with or as if with age; covered with grayish hair or pubescence; old as to inspire veneration; ancient; elderly; trite
42. Iniquity - Gross immorality or injustice; wickedness; grossly immoral act; a sin; evil
43. Ponderous - Having great weight; unwieldy from weight or bulk; lacking grace or fluency; labored and dull; dreary, tedious; heavy, cumbersome
44. Extant - Still in existence; not destroyed, lost, or extinct; standing out; projecting; in existence; occurring or existing in act or fact: actual


ANALOGIES:

1. saga:poem
2. date:calender
3. crutch:walk
4. exculpate:absolve
5. chip:stone


ISSUE TOPICS:

1. Creating an appealing image has become more important in contemporary society than is the reality or truth behind that image
2. In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach
3. High-speed electronic communications media, such as electronic mail and television, tend to prevent meaningful and thoughtful communication
4. In this age of intensive media coverage, it is no longer possible for a society to regard any woman or man as a hero. The reputation of anyone who is subjected to media scrutiny will eventually be diminished
5. Facts are stubborn things. They cannot be altered by our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions
6. Colleges and universities should offer more courses on popular music, film, advertising, and television because contemporary culture has much greater relevance for students than do arts and literature of the past
7. People who are the most deeply committed to an idea or policy are the most critical of it
8. People have been so encouraged by society to focus on apparent differences that they fail to see meaningful similarities among ideas, individuals, and groups
9. Humanity has made little real progress over the past century or so. Technological innovations have taken place, but the overall condition of humanity is no better. War, violence, and poverty are still with us. Technology cannot change the condition of humanity


ARGUMENT TOPICS:

1. The following appeared in a proposal from the economic minister of the country of Paraterra.

"In order to strengthen its lagging economy, last year the government of the nearby country of Bellegea began an advertising campaign to promote ecologically sound tourism (ecotourism). This year, the number of foreign visitors arriving at Bellegea's main airport doubled, and per capita income in Bellegea increased by ten percent. To provide more income for the population of Paraterra and also preserve the natural environment of our tiny country, we too should begin to promote ecotourism. To ensure that our advertising campaign is successful, we should hire the current director of Bellegea's National Tourism Office as a consultant for the campaign."

2. The following appeared in the editorial section of a health and fitness magazine.

"In a study of the effects of exercise on longevity, medical researchers tracked 500 middle-aged men over a 20-year period. The subjects represented a variety of occupations in several different parts of the country and responded to an annual survey in which they were asked: How often and how strenuously do you exercise? Of those who responded, the men who reported that they engaged in vigorous outdoor exercise nearly every day lived longer than the men who reported that they exercised mildly only once or twice a week. Given the clear link that this study establishes between longevity and exercise, doctors should not recommend moderate exercise to their patients but should instead encourage vigorous outdoor exercise on a daily basis."