ERWC Vocabulary List One

Ameliorate Verb Means “to make better” Ameliorates, ameliorated, ameliorating Means “to make better” The manager offered him a free meal in hopes that it would ameliorate his mood after the waiter flipped him off.

Archaic Adjective Means “old” or “out-of-date” Sp: arcaico Compared to your iPhone, my flip phone is archaic.

Biased Adjective Bias (noun) Having a strong prejudice for or against something The referee was clearly biased against the visiting team, so they didn’t get any calls.

Concede Verb Means “to admit (reluctantly)” or “to admit defeat” Concedes, conceded, conceding Means “to admit (reluctantly)” or “to admit defeat” Sp: conceder I have to concede that Ryan Gosling is slightly better looking than I am.

Convoluted Adjective Means “complex and confusing” The instructions for the IKEA desk were so convoluted, I finally gave up.

Entice Verb Means “to tempt” Enticed, entices, enticing Enticing can also be an adjective Means “to tempt” The cashier’s pitch was so enticing, I had to buy the 20 piece McNuggets for only .59¢ more.

Exacerbate Verb Means “to make worse” Exacerbates, exacerbated, exacerbating Means “to make worse” Sp: exacerbar The customer’s mood was exacerbated when the cook also flipped him off.

Impeccable Adjective Means “Perfect” or “Flawless” Impeccably (adverb) Means “Perfect” or “Flawless” Sp: same Simone Biles’s impeccable floor routine secured the gold medal.

Inadvertent Adjective Means “accidental” Inadvertently (Adverb) Means “accidental” Sp: inadvertido I inadvertently hit “reply all” when I meant to send the email to only one person.

Juxtapose Verb Means “to place side-by-side” Juxtaposed, juxtaposes, juxtaposing Means “to place side-by-side” Sp: yuxtapone If you juxtapose the two products, they are virtually identical.

Misconstrue Verb Means “to misinterpret” or “to misunderstand” Misconstrues, misconstrued, misconstruing Construe (to interpret) Means “to misinterpret” or “to misunderstand” He misconstrued her politeness as flirting, so he asked her out, which did not go well for him.

Relevant Adjective Means “significant” or “on-topic” Irrelevant (Antonym) Means “significant” or “on-topic” You are welcome to speak, as long as what you have to say is relevant to the topic at hand.

unabashed Adjective Not embarrassed (Kind of: Not sorry) Opposite: Abashed He was shockingly unabashed by the categorically ignorant and offensive things he said.

Exasperate Verb Means “To annoy” or “To frustrate” In fact, she was exasperated more by their lack of effort than their poor performance.

Thor’s day Have your homework out so I can check it. While I’m doing that, review your vocabulary cards for tomorrow’s quiz. Also on the quiz: Diction, Elements of satire, Purpose/Audience Detractors from Academic Voice

Slippery slope A logical fallacy and a form of hyperbole, in which: A series of (often) unlikely consequences is presented in order to criticize a position. While it is generally poor logic and dangerous in argumentation, it can be particularly effective in satire because it makes the original position seem almost absurd.

Censure Verb Means “to criticize harshly” The teacher censured the entire class for doing poorly on the test.