mystifying(MIS ti FY ing) adj.1. puzzling; bewildering; perplexing; 2. made
obscure or difficult to understand
- There is something mystifyingabout a man wearing a cape and carrying a
walking stick. - Many claim that the income tax code is mystifyingby design rather than
circumstance.
[-ly adv., mystification n.]
mythical(MITH i kil) adj.1. imaginary; fictitious; not scientifically proven;
- existing only in myths
- The fact that the refrigerator’s light goes out when the door is closed is
considered mythicalby some children (and by some adults). - A dragon is a mythicalcreature, which never really existed.
naive(nah EEV) adj.1. innocent; unworldly; childlike; unsophisticated;
- unsuspicious; credulous
- Lara was too naiveto know what to order at the French restaurant, so she
trusted Buddy to order for her. - Vic left his portable DVD player on the front seat of his open convertible
and was naiveenough to expect that it would still be there when he
returned.
narcissistic(NAHR si SIS tik) adj.loving one’s self; having an excessive interest
in one’s own appearance, comfort, importance, etc. - Nancy is narcissisticenough to spend 6 hours every day in front of a full-
length mirror. - Hector is wealthy enough to be able to afford his narcissisticnature, having
hired six full-time servants to see to his every need.
[-ally adv., narcissism n.]
narrative(NA ruh TIV) adj.1. in story form; taking the nature of a narration;
- occupied with narration —n. a story; tale
- H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine is a narrativetold from the vantage point of
the machine’s inventor. - “Call me Ishmael” is the opening sentence of Melville’s Moby Dick and
introduces the reader to the identity of the narrative’steller. - In Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, it is unclear whose narrativethe
tale is.
[Syn. story]
nefarious(ni FAER ee uhs) adj.very wicked; underhanded; most villainous;
iniquitous - The Spanish Inquisition used nefariousmeans to identify so-called heretics.
- Joseph McCarthy was nefariousin his “red baiting” tactics during the 1950s
communist witch hunts.
[-ly adv., -ness n.]
164 Essential Vocabulary