be fledged.- Lucy was still a fledgling caterer when her deviled eggs gave the whole party food
poisoning.
Full-fledged means complete or full-grown.
- Now that Lucy is a full-fledged gourmet chef, her deviled eggs poison only a couple of
people annually.
FLIPPANT (FLIP unt) adj frivolously disrespectful; saucy; pert; flip
- I like to make flippant remarks in church to see how many old ladies will turn around and
glare at me.
The act or state of being flippant is flippancy (FLIP un see).
- The flippancy of the second graders was almost more than the substitute teacher could
stand.
Flip is another form of the word that is in common usage.
LAUD (lawd) v to praise; to applaud; to extol; to celebrate
- The bank manager lauded the hero who trapped the escaping robber. The local newspaper
published a laudatory editorial on this intrepid individual.
Laudatory means “praising,” and laudable means “praiseworthy.”
- Giving several million dollars to charity is a laudable act of philanthropy.
LAVISH (LAV ish) v to spend freely or bestow generously; to squander
- My father lavishes so many birthday presents on his relatives that they panic when it’s time
for them to give him something in return. - City Hall has lavished money on the street-cleaning program, but our streets are dirtier than
ever.
Lavish is also an adjective.
- Don’t you think Miss Woodstone is a little too lavish with her praise? She slathers so
much positive reinforcement on her students that they can’t take her seriously at all.
MERCENARY (MUR suh ner ee) n a hired soldier; someone who will do anything for money
- If an army can’t find enough volunteers or draftees, it will sometimes hire mercenaries. The
magazine Soldier of Fortune is aimed at mercenaries and would-be mercenaries; it even
runs classified advertisements by soldiers looking for someone to fight.
You don’t have to be a soldier to be a mercenary. Someone who does something strictly for the
money is often called a mercenary.
- Our business contains a few dedicated workers and many, many mercenaries who want