- If you stripped away the bombast from the candidate’s campaign speeches, you would find
nothing but misconceptions and lies. - The magazine writer resorted to bombast whenever his deadline was looming; thoughtful
opinions required time and reflection, but he could become pompous almost as rapidly as he
could type.
The adjective is bombastic (bahm BAS tik).
BRAWN (brawn) n big muscles; great strength
- All the other boys in the class thought it extremely unfair that Sean had both brains and
brawn. - The old engine didn’t have the brawn to propel the tractor up the side of the steep hill.
To be brawny (BRAW nee) is to be muscular.
- The members of the football team were so brawny that each one needed two seats on
the airplane in order to sit comfortably.
CASTIGATE (KAS tuh gayt) v to criticize severely; to chastise
- Jose’s mother-in-law castigated him for forgetting to pick her up at the airport.
CEREBRAL (suh REE brul) adj brainy; intellectually refined Your cerebrum is the biggest part
of your brain. To be cerebral is to do and care about things that really smart people do and
care about.
- A cerebral discussion is one that is filled with big words and concerns abstruse matters
that ordinary people can’t understand. - Sebastian was too cerebral to be a baseball announcer; he kept talking about the
existentialism of the outfield.
CONTIGUOUS (kun TIG yoo us) adj side by side; adjoining
- Two countries that share a border are contiguous, as are two events that happened one
right after the other. - If two countries are contiguous, the territory they cover is continuous. That is, it spreads or
continues across both countries without any interruption.
CORRUGATED (KOHR uh gay tud) adj shaped with folds or waves
- Corrugated sheet metal is sheet metal that has been shaped so that it has ridges and
valleys, like a ridged potato chip. - Corduroy pants might be called corrugated.
- Much of the paperboard used in making cardboard cartons is corrugated.
COSMOPOLITAN (kahz muh PAHL uh tun) adj at home in many places or situations;
internationally sophisticated