negligible(NEG li jib il) adj.small enough to be disregarded; hardly noticeable;
trifling
- The difference between a 30-gram and a 29-gram portion of flour is negligi-
bleto the naked eye. - The ineffective diet that Shaila was on for 7 weeks had a negligibleinflu-
ence on her weight.
[negligibly adv.]
nitpicker(NIT pik oer) n.one who finds fault with petty details; one who pays
too much attention to little things that shouldn’t ordinarily matter; one who is
petty or overly finicky - Mrs. Higgins was a real nitpickerand would deduct points from an essay for
every undotted jor iin a handwritten creative paper.
•To nitpickoriginally meant to pick tiny nits (lice eggs) out of someone’s
hair by using a comb or tweezers; it’s not too hard to see how nitpicker
today describes someone who obsesses over tiny details.
[nitpick vi.]
nomenclature(NOH min KLAY chir) n.1. a set of names that is peculiar to a
particular field (for example, ROM and RAM in computers) or terms exclusive to
biology or another science; 2. the act or system of naming - In the nomenclatureof computers, ROM is read-only memory, while RAM is
random-access memory. - A dele is a deletion, parens are parentheses, and a graph is a paragraph in
the nomenclatureof proofreading.
nonchalance(NAHN shuh LAHNS) n.the state or quality of not showing
warmth or interest in something; coolness; showing a lack of concern - Beth greeted the news of Amy’s marrying her old boyfriend, John, with
nonchalance. - There was an air of nonchalanceon the face of the killer as he mowed down
the nest of termites with his spray gun.
[Syn. equanimity]
nondescript (NAHN dis KRIPT) adj.1. hard to classify because of a lack of
recognizable qualities; 2. dull; uninteresting - Kenny drove a nondescriptcar from the mid to late ’60s.
- The only way Jim could describe Edna’s neighborhood was shabby, but as
for any particular features, it was just nondescript.
novel(NAH vil) adj.new; unusual —n.a relatively long piece of fictional prose
with a complicated plot - The Fosbury Flop was a rather novelapproach to the high jump track-and-
field event. - When it comes to recreational reading, Marianne finds a novelmuch more
satisfying than a book of short stories.
M – N: SAT Words 165