1. Vocab 4
Honors English 10

2. Alacrity Noun Cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness
I accepted the wedding invitation with alacrity!

3. Disdain
Noun
To look upon or treat with despise or contempt; to see one beneath yourself
Jack from Lord of the Flies looks at Piggy with disdain because he believes Piggy is just a stupid kid.

4. Pugnacious
Adjective
Having to quarrel or being ready to fight; combative; quarrelsome
Toni just doesn’t know when to let an argument go; she always has to be pugnacious and have the last word.

5. Intimidate Verb To make timid; to fill with fear
The Taliban tried to intimidate Malala and her family, but she continues to speak against them.

6. Feign
Verb
To give a false appearance, to pretend, to represent falsely
Dylan feigned sleeping so that he could play his new video game without his parents knowing.

7. Belligerent Adjective Being warlike, aggressively hostile
The enemy had a belligerent tone which made prisoners of war and his army cower in fear.

8. Promulgate
Verb
To make known by law; to set forth by a creed, doctrine or declaration
The federal and state governments are to establish laws and promulgate rules.

9. Brash Adjective Being hasty, rash, senseless, impetuous
My grandfather told stories of when he was a brash young man making dumb decisions when it came to money.

10. Scoff Verb To mock or jeer at one because of doubt
Many people scoffed at Thomas Edison’s light bulb because they thought that it couldn’t be done.

11. Laceration Noun A deep cut or tear of the flesh; a rough, jagged tear
The hockey player somehow got up with only a laceration on his chin.

12. Tangible
Adjective
Being easily seen; being able to touch or feel; real, actual
Their sense of relief of having no cancer was almost tangible.

13. Belittle
Verb
To describe something or someone as little or unimportant
The critic belittled the chef’s work only because it was missing one minor spice.

14. Castigate
Verb
To criticize or reprimand severely; to punish in order to correct
The late night show host castigated the president as a horrible leader.

15. Sordid Adjective Being morally vile; being very dirty
Harry Potter grew up in very sordid surroundings where no one actually took care of him.

16. Defile Verb To make unclean or impure; to corrupt innocence or purity
None of the harsh reality has defiled the five year old’s mind as she plays with her unicorns and ponies.

17. Solace Verb To comfort, console or relieve one’s pain or sorrow
She just wanted to solace her grieving niece after she lost her dog.

18. Aspirant Adjective Aspiring for something of value or importance
The Air Force pilot was an aspirant astronaut who dreamed of walking on the moon.

19. Dregs Noun The most undesirable parts; the leftovers
The wood dregs littered the woodman’s shop as she finished the oak table.

20. Frenzy Noun A temporary madness; a wild or uncontrolled activity
The snowday threw everyone in a frenzy to find their snowpants and sleds.

21. Scurrilous Adjective Being vulgar or abusive; having coarse language
There were several scurrilous attacks against the mayor after taxes went up.