Vocabulary List #1

Adamant

He is adamant in his refusal to change his mind.

• impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason

• unrestrained by convention or propriety

• make furious

• marked by casual disrespect

Audacious

Harry’s was an age that spawned bold dreams and audacious dreamers.

• required by rule

• disposed to venture or take risks

• beg or request earnestly and urgently

• skillful at evading capture

Concise

A man of few words, Mendel was even more concise in his writing: he had distilled nearly a decade’s work into forty-four spectacularly dreary pages. (a)  

• expressing much in few words
• skillful at evading capture
• impervious to pleas, persuasion
• disposed to venture or take risks

Elusive

New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants.

• marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences

• old and twisted and covered in lines

• beg or request earnestly and urgently

• skillful at evading capture

Exasperate

It exasperated him that Clara never seemed truly grateful for anything and never seemed to need anything that he could give her. (a)  

• make furious
• marked by casual disrespect
• required by rule
• disposed to venture or take risks

Foolhardy

My plan was simple and foolhardy: steal a rowboat, cross the river to Jersey, and walk to Charleston.

• disposed to venture or take risks

• marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences

• beg or request earnestly and urgently

• marked by casual disrespect

Gnarled

There they sat under an old gnarled oak that sent its roots twisting like snakes down a steep crumbling bank.

• make furious

• deeply or seriously thoughtful

• old and twisted and covered in lines

• required by rule

Implore

He spoke first and implored her to be kind to him. (a)  

• beg or request earnestly
• required by rule
• make furious
• expressing much in few words

Impudent

That cup had its place and it was an act of impudent rebellion to place it anywhere else.

• old and twisted and covered in lines

• make furious

• impervious to please, persuasion, requests, or reasons

• marked by casual disrespect

Mandatory

It is customary, but not mandatory, to give rings to all players who appeared for a team in a championship season, though it wasn’t always that way. (a)  

• required by rule
• marked by casual disrespect
• disposed to venture or take risks
• skillful at evading capture