Vocabulary from Reading Passages

1. Noun: insignia:  A badge worn to show official position.

e.g. They checked everyone's insignia before letting them in.

2. Noun: idiosyncrasy: A behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Adjective: idiosyncratic: Peculiar to the individual         

e.g. We all have our own idiosyncratic gestures"; "Michelangelo's highly idiosyncratic style of painting”

3. Verb: hinder:

·         Be a hindrance or obstacle to

·         Hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of

·         Put at a disadvantage

e.g. She is hindering the progress of our project

4. Verb: dwindle: Become smaller or lose substance

e.g. Her savings dwindled down

5.Adverb: notwithstanding: Despite anything to the contrary (usually following a concession)

   Preposition: notwithstanding: Regardless of, in defiance of

e.g.  I went shopping notwithstanding the bad weather.

6.Adjective: Compliant:

·         Disposed or willing to comply

·         Compatible with or following specific standards, specifications, rules, or laws

e.g. Children compliant with the parental will.

7. Adjective: Disparaging: Expressive of low opinion.

     Verb: Disparage: Express a negative opinion of

e.g. she made disparaging remarks about the new house

8.Verb: Dampen:

·         Smother or suppress

·         Make moist

·         Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

·         Reduce the amplitude (of oscillations or waves)

·         Make vague, obscure or make (an image) less visible

·         Check; keep in check (a fire)

·         Lessen in force or effect

e.g. The dew dampened the meadows

9. Noun: Endorsement:

·         A promotional statement (as found on the dust jackets of books)

·         A speech seconding a motion

·         Formal and explicit approval

·         A signature that validates something

·         The act of endorsing

e.g. the author got all his friends to write endorsements for his book

10.Noun: Promenade:

·         A formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year

·         A public area set aside as a pedestrian walk

·         A square dance figure; couples march counterclockwise in a circle

·         A march of all the guests at the opening of a formal dance

·         A leisurely walk (usually in some public place)

    Verb: Promenade:

·         March in a procession

·         Take a leisurely walk

e.g. the veterans promenaded down the street.

11. Adjective: Olfactor: Of or relating to olfaction

e.g. The olfactory lobe is situated on the under surface of the frontal lobe.

12.Adjective: Spatial: Pertaining to, involving or having the nature of space

e.g. The first dimension to concentrate on is the spatial one.

13. Noun: Petition:

·         A formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority

·         Reverent petition to a deity

·         (law) a formal written request for judicial action

·         A compilation of signatures built in order to exert moral authority in support of a specific cause

      Verb: petition: Write a petition for something to somebody; request formally and in writing.

e.g. I petitioned information from the secretary.

14. Noun: Saddle:

·         A seat for the rider of a horse or camel

·         A pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle)

·         Cut of meat (especially mutton or lamb) consisting of part of the backbone and both loins

      Verb: Saddle:

·         Put a saddle on

·         Load or burden; encumber

·         Impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to

e.g. He saddled me with that heavy responsibility.

15.Verb: Stride (strode, stridden):

·         Walk with long steps

·         Cover or traverse by taking long steps

e.g. He strode confidently across the hall.

16. Verb: bolster:

·         Support and strengthen

·         Prop up with a pillow or bolster

·         Add padding to

     Noun: bolster:

·         A pillow that is often put across a bed underneath the regular pillows

e.g. Bolster the seat of the chair.

17. adjective: Ripe:

·         Fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used

·         Fully prepared or eager

·         Most suitable or right for a particular purpose

·         At the highest point of development especially in judgment or knowledge

e.g. The time is ripe for great sociological changes.

18. Noun: improvisation:

·         A creation spoken, written or composed extemporaneously (without prior preparation)

·         An unplanned expedient

·         A performance given extempore without planning or preparation

e.g. If acting by its nature requires flexibility, then the crucible of flexibility is improvisational theatre.

19.Noun: Panacea: Hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists.

    Noun: Panacea:  (Greek mythology) the goddess of healing; daughter of Aesculapius and sister of Hygeia.

e.g. I know the term panacea that means remedy for all diseases or ills.

20. Noun: ingenuity:

·         The power of creative imagination

·         The property of being ingenious

e.g.  This idea is a plot of great ingenuity.