Building a Better Vocabulary

ever struck and assured Hermes’s place as not only the god of tricksters but also the god of commerce. z Hermes is often pictur ...

/HFWXUH:RUGVIURP*RGVDQG+HURHV gave to Prometheus and his brother, Epimetheus, the job of repopulating the earth. ż Zeu ...

ż :KHQ =HXV IRXQG RXW DERXW WKH VWROHQ ¿UH KH ZDV IXULRXV Later, he also discovered that Prometheus had taught hum ...

/HFWXUH+XPEOH:RUGVDQG3ULGHIXO:RUGV +XPEOH:RUGVDQG3ULGHIXO:RUGV Lecture 12 L ike many words, pride has various conno ...

disdainful, condescending, swaggering, lofty, lordly, high and mighty, highfalutin, sniffy, snooty, and snotty. Bumptious (adjec ...

/HFWXUH+XPEOH:RUGVDQG3ULGHIXO:RUGV z As this story indicates, hubris comes from Greek, where it originally meant being ...

ż Use ÀRZHU\ when you want to describe language that includes overly ornate images and expressions. ż Use pretentious when you ...

/HFWXUH+XPEOH:RUGVDQG3ULGHIXO:RUGV Obsequious (adjective) Servile and fawning; overly deferential. z Obsequious people ...

z Unctuous comes from the Latin unctus, meaning “anointed with oil.” This etymology is a perfect reminder for the oily, slick, ...

/HFWXUH+XPEOH:RUGVDQG3ULGHIXO:RUGV The curmudgeon’s frequent letters to the editor of the local newspaper were charact ...

+LJK)UHTXHQF\*UHHNDQG/DWLQ5RRWV Lecture 13 I n her excellent book 7KHUHHNDQG/DWLQ5RRWVRI(QJOLVK, Tamara Green tells o ...

/HFWXUH+LJK)UHTXHQF\*UHHNDQG/DWLQ5RRWV z 7KH/DWLQSUH¿[in- also means “not or without,” as in incorrect. 7KLVUHODW ...

related to the noun habit, as in the clothing worn by religious and clerical orders. In your vocabulary notebook, highlight the ...

/HFWXUH+LJK)UHTXHQF\*UHHNDQG/DWLQ5RRWV z Here’s prescient in context: “The prescient economist predicted the stock ma ...

sunny Mediterranean climate, carrying around umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun by providing a “little shadow” for the ...

/HFWXUH+LJK)UHTXHQF\*UHHNDQG/DWLQ5RRWV A Hot Root: therm(o) z This root has a history going back to 480 B.C.E. At tha ...

path winding through the mountains that enabled the Persians to RXWÀDQNWKH*UHHNDUP\:KHQ/HRQLGDVUHDOL]HGKLVGLUHVLWXDWLR ...

Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust Words Relating to Belief and Trust Lecture 14 T he great 19th-century German phil ...

what one thinks is true”—is closer to what dogmatic means today: “arrogantly opinionated.” 3RQWL¿FDWHYHUE To speak or express ...

Lecture 14: Words Relating to Belief and Trust from the Greek verb stellein, meaning “to send.” Thus, an apostle is a messenger ...