List 6

precipitous adj. / precipitously adv. / precipice n.	steep; rash; hasty -- New England is famous for its sudden, precipitous temperature changes. -- San Francisco is known for its precipitous streets, which are nearly impossible to park on. -- He swerved precipitously to avoid the deer on the highway.
vertiginous adj. / vertigo n.	whirling, dizzying; tending to cause dizzying or disorientation, esp. from a sensation of height -- Gymnasts must conquer vertigo. -- The view from the top of the ski lift was vertiginous.
complacency n. / complacent adj.	contentment, resigned or presumptuous self-satisfaction -- Complacency got the better of the championship team. Assuming they could never lose, they neglected their practices and lost to an unranked team.
antipathy n.	a feeling of intense dislike -- We later discovered that his antipathy to/toward cats was grounded in a vicious feline attack that he experienced as a boy.
equanimity n.	quality of remaining calm and undisturbed, even-tempered -- I was proud of the equanimity with which the team accepted its loss at the state championships.
perfunctory adj.	performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm -- As she grew older, her piano performances became strictly perfunctory; she had lost her passion for music.
peremptory adj. / peremptorily adv.	admitting no refusal, absolute, imperative, resolute, determined -- The fire alarm peremptorily halted our class discussion. -- My mom issued us a peremptory command to clean our rooms. We could tell just from her tone that she would not stand us messing with her.
deign v.	to loftily condescend towards or acknowledge someone or something felt to be inferior -- The Upper East Side socialite scarcely deigned to acknowledge the doorman as he helped her into her limo every morning.
enervate v. / enervated adj.	to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken – The record high temperatures in our stuffy classroom left our entire class feeling enervated.
indolent adj. / indolence n.	[NOT "insolent"] having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful -- Rip Van Winkle's termagant wife complained constantly about her indolent husband's refusal to maintain the family farm.
debilitate v	to make weak or feeble; enfeeble; to sap the energy and strength of – The flu debilitated him and prevented him from going to work.
illustrious adj.	highly distinguished; renowned; famous; glorious, as deeds or works – The author was honored for her illustrious achievement.
dichotomy n. / dichotomous adj.	division (sometimes forced or arbitrary) into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or opposed pairs -- I think it would be hard to objectively explain the cultural dichotomy that links pink to girls and blue to boys. -- During the primaries, the verbal disputes between Clinton and Obama were falsely dichotomous; in fact, the candidates agreed on most policy issues. -- Most people find "savory vs. sweet" to be a natural dichotomy.
paradox n. / paradoxical adj.	a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth -- "'I always lie' is a paradox because if it is true it must be false." -- Christ's "Sermon on the Mount" includes famous paradoxes about heaven such as "the last shall be first and the first shall be last" and "he that loseth his life shall save it."
oxymoron n.	a noun phrase or other close combination of two words that are explicitly paired but include a direct (possibly punning) opposition, such as "jumbo shrimp," "idiot savant" and "sophomore" (both mean wise fool), "small fortune," "singles club," "sweet & sour," "suicide victim," "science fiction"
castigate v.	to criticize or reprimand severely -- Though the teacher mockingly castigated the students for tardiness; really she could not have cared less when they showed up to class.
censure v. & n.	to blame, condemn, express an adverse opinion or judgment [term originates as a sentence of church law--often formal censures are issued by groups towards an individual] -- She did all she could to avoid censure from any authority. -- The senate formally censured their colleague after the sex scandal, but did not go so far as removing him from office.
censor v. / censorship n.	to review, expurgate, or change (literature, mail, etc.) in the interests of morality, public security, privacy -- In the age of twittering and cell phone cameras, it is nearly impossible for governments to control information via censorship as they once could. -- She was careful to censor her radical opinions in front of her conservative grandmother.
diffuse adj./ diffusely adv.	scattered and spread out, not concentrated; characterized by great length or discursiveness in speech or writing; wordy -- Piles of clothing, diffusely strewn all over her bedroom, were evidence of her indecisiveness when getting dressed. -- Likewise, the reasoning in her paper was diffuse. She had lots to say, but it was impossible to be sure what her main point was.
defuse v.	to remove the fuse from (a bomb, mine, etc.); to make less dangerous, tense, or embarrassing; to grow less dangerous; weaken -- The peer mediation sessions successfully defused the hostility between the two students.
incite v.	to stir, encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action -- The police insisted that the protester's speech was intended to incite violence.
deter v. / deterrent n./adj.	tending to discourage from acting, by means of fear or doubt – I wouldn't dream of deterring you from taking that AP class. Go for it. -- Politicians debate whether capital punishment is an effective deterrent of violent crime. – Students debate whether Saturday School is an effective deterrent of poor behavior.
deflect v. / deflection n.	to bend or turn to one side; swerve -- I bought that lampshade because I love the way its various panels deflect and diffuse the light. -- He was a master at deflecting criticism of his policies by subtly changing the topic.
displace v. / displaced adj./ displacement n.	to move or shift something from its customary place -- The recent fires in southern California displaced hundreds of families. -- When people are under considerable stress and feel powerless, it is common for them to displace their sense of frustration by lashing out at their family members.
diverge v. / divergence n./ divergent adj.	to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off; the act of diverting or turning aside, as from a course or purpose -- How typical of Massachusetts that just when the main road diverges in two, there is no sign telling you which street is which. -- I almost never diverge from my habit of drinking herb tea before bedtime. -- The married couple had divergent tastes and could never agree on a restaurant.
digress v. / digression adj. / digressive adj.	a temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing -- In a well-told story, the digressions can be just as interesting as the main plot. -- But I digress . . . -- Too many digressions can make a speech impossible to follow.
supplant v.	take the place of, supersede, esp. through force, schemeing or treacher; to remove or uproot in order to replace -- When my mom tried to supplant the hamburgers with tofu patties, none of us ate dinner. -- After the harvest, the corn field was supplanted with clover to restore nitrogen to the soil.
collude v. / collusion n.	conspire, plot, connive; act in secret consort -- The students colluded in cheating on the test by texting one another the answers.
fix v. vs. fixate v. / fixation n.	direct one's gaze on; concentrate on; arrest one's attention at an immature stage, manifested in an abnormal attachment or emotional response to certain persons or things -- The teacher directed the class to fix their attention on the board. -- Our culture encourages young people to be fixated on their physical appearance.