WORD LIST 141
forestall (fohr·'stawl) v. to prevent by taking action first, preempt. The diplomat
was able to forestall a conflict by holding secret meetings with both parties.
forswear (for·'swair) v. 1. to give up, renounce. 2. to deny under oath. Natasha
had to forswear her allegiance to her homeland in order to become a citizen of the
new country.
fortuitous (for·'too·i·tu ̆s) adj. happening by accident or chance; occurring
unexpectedly or without any known cause. (Note: Fortuitous is commonly
used to mean a happy accident or an unexpected but fortunate occurrence. In
its true sense, however, a fortuitous event can be either fortunate or unfortu-
nate.) By a stroke of fortuitous bad luck, Wei chose a small, exclusive resort for her
vacation—only to find that the ex-boyfriend she wanted to get away from had also
chosen the same resort.
frugal ('froo·a ̆l) adj. 1. careful and economical, sparing, thrifty. 2. costing little.
My grandparents survived the Great Depression by being very frugal.
fulminate ('ful·m ̆·nayt) v. 1. to issue a thunderous verbal attack, berate.
- to explode or detonate. The Senator liked to fulminate when other legislators
questioned her ideology.
fulsome ('fuul·so ̆m) adj. offensive due to excessiveness, especially excess flattery
or praise. Her new coworker’s fulsome attention bothered Kathryn.
furtive ('fur·tiv) adj. 1. characterized by stealth or secrecy, surreptitious. 2. sug-
gesting a hidden motive, shifty. Harriet’s furtive glance told me I had better keep
quiet about what I had just seen.
futile ('fyoo·t ̆l) adj. useless, producing no result; hopeless, vain. My mother would
never let me attend the party; arguing with her was futile.
Ggainsay ('ayn·say) v. to deny, contradict, or declare false; to oppose. Petra would
gainsay all accusations made against her.
gargantuan (ahr·'an·choo·a ̆n) adj. gigantic, huge. It was a gargantuan super-
market for such a small town.
garish ('air·ish) adj. excessively bright or over-decorated, gaudy; tastelessly
showy. Though Susan thought Las Vegas was garish, Emily thought it was perfectly
beautiful.
garner ('ahr·ne ̆r) v. to gather and store up; to amass, acquire. Whitney garnered
enough money to buy a used car.