Vocabulary of the Week #2
By Lela Star
I got all this information from vocabulary.com. If you want to learn more, check the site out!
1. Apprehend
To apprehend is to capture or arrest, as when the police try to apprehend criminals and bring them to justice. You also apprehend a concept when you understand it, grasping or capturing its meaning.
2. Vale
A vale is a long depression in the land, usually between two hills and containing a river. A vale is a valley.
3. Sully
To sully is to attack someone's good name and to try to ruin his reputation. If you spread false rumors that there's chicken stock in the vegetarian entree at Joe's Diner, you would sully Joe's good reputation.
4. Scruple
Your scruples are what keep you from doing things you consider to be morally or ethically wrong. Your scruples won't allow you to cheat on a test, or steal from your brother's Halloween candy stash.
5. Counterpoint
A counterpoint is something that contrasts, and to counterpoint is to provide a contrast. In music, counterpoint is when two separate melodies are played or sung at the same time.
6. Exhort
French roots for the word exhort mean "thoroughly encourage," so to exhort is to fill up with encouragement! "When he heard the crowd exhort him with stomping and cheers, he knew that he could finish the marathon."
7. Suppliant
A suppliant is someone who begs or prays for something, and to be suppliant is to humbly pray or ask for forgiveness. Puppy-dog eyes can help if you’re trying to look suppliant.
8. Materialistic
Who doesn’t love the nice things that money can buy? But if all you care about is the stuff you have and the stuff you want to buy, you are materialistic.
9. Binomial
Anything binomial consists of two terms (like x + 5) or has two names (like homo sapiens).
10. Twain
If you want an old-fashioned way to talk about two things, use the noun twain. You might lament that your pair of dogs was divided in twain when you had to give one of them away.