Learn English :: Awesome Vocabulary #101 Podcast Vocabulary Show

Please visit www.veryvocabulary.com to leave your comments. Also, visit www.bozuki.com and email me at veryvocabulary@yahoo.com

invidious \in-VID-ee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to provoke envy, resentment, or ill will.
2. Likely to cause unhappiness or be unpleasant, especially because unfair
3. Envious.
Such a difficult choice placed her in an invidious position.

ennui \on-WEE\, noun:
A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.
George was often sick or playing hooky and suffered from ennui, a mixture of listlessness and willful melancholy.

aberrant \a-BERR-unt; AB-ur-unt\, adjective:
Markedly different from an accepted norm; Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; abnormal.
The characters are so wild and aberrant they are close to appearing lunatics.

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun:
Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.
His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.
She was a woman of exceptional perspicacity.

edacious \i-DAY-shus\, adjective:
Given to eating; voracious; devouring.
The children had edacious appetites after winning the baseball game.

hugger-mugger \HUH-guhr-muh-guhr\, noun:
1. A disorderly jumble; muddle; confusion.
2. Secrecy; concealment.
I followed him to that hugger-mugger cabin he had hidden in the woods and hid behind the trees.

blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun:
Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.

The president’s blandishments convinced the public to trust him to take care of the war.

polymath \POL-ee-math\, noun:
A person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study.
She is an old-fashioned polymath, curious about all branches of human learning.

supererogatory \soo-puhr-ih-ROG-uh-tor-ee\, adjective:
1. Going beyond what is required or expected.
2. Superfluous; unnecessary.
She found some supererogatory change lying on the dresser.