Sunday, October 7, 2012

Fall Vocab List #8

abeyance: The position of being without, or waiting for, an owner or claimant.
ex: The abeyance Hamlet was going through without his father was starting to take a toll on him.
ambivalent: Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.
ex: Ophelia was very ambivalent as to how she was going to handle the animosity Laertes had towards Hamlet.
beleaguer: Beset with difficulties.
ex:  Ophelia was beleaguered as she discovered her brother and father weren't fond of Hamlet.
carte blanche: Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best.
ex: I'm sure once Hamlet met the ghost of his father, he wished he was in a state of carte blanche.
cataclysm: A large-scale and violent event in the natural world.
ex: Had Hamlet told the world of the ghost of his dead father, there may have been a cataclysm.
debauch: Destroy or debase the moral purity of, corrupt.
ex: It seemed as if Laertes and his father were afraid that Hamlet would debauch Ophelia.
eclat: Demonstration of admiration and approbation; applause.
ex: When Ophelia became aware of how her family felt about Hamlet, her repsonse was less than elact.
fastidious: Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail.
ex: When Hamlet met the ghost of his father, he was very fastidious.
gambol: To run or jump about playfully.
ex: As Hamlet discovered his mother had moved on so quick to incestuous acts, he wasn't in the mood to gambol.
imbue: Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality.
ex: When Hamlet met his fathers' ghost, he became inbued with many questions.
inchoate: Just begun, so not fully formed ot developed.
ex: Although Hamlet has made his feelings about his mothers' choices obvious, his feelings are still considered inchoate.
lampoon: Publicly criticized.
ex: With all the terrible things Hamlet's mtoher has done, I'm sure she'll get lampooned.
malleable: Able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking.
ex: Hamlet's opinions about his mothers' choices haven't been malleable so far.
nemesis: The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall.
ex: The nemesis that Hamlet's every move has been, has been the marriage of his uncle and his mother.
opt: Make a choice from a wide range of possiblities.
ex: Throughout this entire play, Hamlet has been forced to opt about many different aspects of his life.
philistine: A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them.
ex: Based on her actions so far, I feel that Gertrude is a philistine person.
picaresque: Of or relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero.
ex: Based on Claudius' actions, it seems as if he is quite a picaresque character since there is a great chance he killed Hamlet's father.
queasy: Inducing a feeling of nausea.
ex: If my mother married my uncle, I'd be the quesiest person in the world.
refractory: Stubborn or unmanageable.
ex: Gertrude's actions have proved to be refractory.
savoir faire: The ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations.
ex: So far, Hamlet seems very savoir faire since he is good at articulating his feelings.


















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