VOCAB #8

abase
verb (used with object), a·based, a·bas·ing.
1.to reduce or lower, as in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; humble; degrade.
2.Archaic. to lower; put or bring down

abdicate
verb (used without object)
1.to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner: The aging founder of the firm decided to abdicate.
verb (used with object)
2.to give up or renounce (authority, duties, an office, etc.), especially in a voluntary, public, or formal manner: King Edward VIII of England abdicated the throne in 1936.

abomination
noun
1.anything abominable; anything greatly disliked or abhorred.
2.intense aversion or loathing; detestation: He regarded lying with abomination.
3.a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc.: Spitting in public is an abomination.

brusque
adjective
abrupt in manner; blunt; rough: A brusque welcome greeted his unexpected return.

saboteur
noun
a person who commits or practices sabotage.

debauchery
noun, plural de·bauch·er·ies.
1.excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance.
2.Archaic. seduction from duty, allegiance, or virtue.

proliferate
verb (used without object), verb (used with object), pro·lif·er·at·ed, pro·lif·er·at·ing.
1.to grow or produce by multiplication of parts, as in budding or cell division, or by procreation.
2.to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively.

anachronism
noun
1.something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
2.an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one: To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.

nomenclature
noun
1.a set or system of names or terms, as those used in a particular science or art, by an individual or community, etc.
2.the names or terms comprising a set or system.

expurgate
verb (used with object), ex·pur·gat·ed, ex·pur·gat·ing.
1.to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable: Most children read an expurgated version of Grimms' fairy tales.
2.to purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness.

bellicose
adjective
inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious.

gauche
adjective
lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless: Their exquisite manners always make me feel gauche.

rapacious
adjective
1.given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
2.inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition.
3.(of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey; predacious.

paradox
noun
1.a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
2.a self-contradictory and false proposition.
3.any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.
4.an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion.

conundrum
noun
1.a riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words, as What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
2.anything that puzzles.

anomaly
noun, plural a·nom·a·lies.
1.a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. Synonyms: abnormality, exception, peculiarity.
2.someone or something that is abnormal or incongruous, or does not fit in; an anomalous person or thing: With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family. Synonyms: abnormality, exception, peculiarity.
3.an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.
4.an incongruity or inconsistency.
5.Astronomy . a quantity measured in degrees, defining the position of an orbiting body with respect to the point at which it is nearest to or farthest from its primary.

ephemeral
adjective
1.lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory: the ephemeral joys of childhood.
2.lasting but one day: an ephemeral flower.
noun
3.anything short-lived, as certain insects.

rancorous
adjective
full of or showing rancor.

churlish
adjective
1.like a churl; boorish; rude: churlish behavior.
2.of a churl; peasantlike.
3.niggardly; mean.
4.difficult to work or deal with, as soil.

precipitous
adjective
1.of the nature of or characterized by precipices: a precipitous wall of rock.
2.extremely or impassably steep: precipitous mountain trails.
3.precipitate.

Definition are from dictionary.com!