Word List
boor(boor) n.a crude, offensive, ill-mannered person. Seeing Chuck wipe his
mouth with his sleeve, Maribel realized she was attending her senior prom with a
classic boor.
bourgeois(boor·zhwah) adj.typical of the middle class; conforming to the
standards and conventions of the middle class. A house in the suburbs, two
children, two cars, and three TVs are key indicators of a bourgeois lifestyle.
chauvinist(shoh·v ̆n·ist) n.a person who believes in the superiority of his
or her own kind; an extreme nationalist. Male chauvinists believe that women
are mentally and physically inferior to men.
erudite(er·yu ̆·d ̄t) adj.having or showing great learning; profoundly edu-
cated, scholarly. The scholarly work of nonfiction was obviously written by an eru-
dite young student.
fatuous(fach·oo·u ̆s) adj.complacently stupid; feeble-minded and silly.
Since Sam was such an intellectually accomplished student, Mr. Britt was surprised
to discover that Sam’s well-meaning but fatuous parents were not at all like him.
feckless(fek·lis) adj.1. lacking purpose or vitality; feeble, weak. 2. incom-
petent and ineffective, careless. Jake’s feckless performance led to his termina-
tion from the team.
genteel(jen·teel) adj.elegantly polite, well-bred; refined. The genteel host
made sure that each entrée was cooked to each guest’s specifications.
iconoclast( ̄·kon·oh·klast) n.1. a person who attacks and seeks to over-
throw traditional ideas, beliefs, or institutions. 2. someone who opposes and
destroys idols used in worship. Using words as weapons, the well-spoken icon-
oclast challenged religious hypocrisy wherever she found it.
ignoble(i·noh·be ̆l) adj.1. lacking nobility in character or purpose; dis-
honorable. 2. not of the nobility, common. Mark was an ignoble successor to
such a well-respected leader, so many members of the organization resigned.
libertine(lib·e ̆r·teen) n.one who lives or acts in an immoral or irrespon-
sible way; one who acts according to his or her own impulses and desires;
unrestrained by conventions or morals. They claim to be avant-garde, but in
my opinion, they’re just a bunch of libertines.
maladroit(mal·a ̆·droit) adj.clumsy, bungling; inept. The maladroit waiter
broke a dozen plates and spilled coffee on two customers.