August 13, 2010

Vocabulary

Words we should be using in our conversations daily:

  1. Taciturn – dour, stern, silent in expression and manner
  2. a) Synonyms: reticent, uncommunicative
    b) The elderly man was taciturn in his dealings with the supermarket clerk.

  3. Modicum – a moderate or small amount
  4. a) Synonyms: jot, crumb, scrap, smidgen
    b) The taciturn man could not even have a modicum of fun while spending time with his grandchildren.

  5. Recalcitrant – resisting authority or control, hard to deal with
  6. a) Synonyms: resistant, rebellious, unruly
    b) The recalcitrant teenager yelled for hours behind his locked bedroom door.

  7. Subterfuge – a stratagem employed to evade a rule, escape a consequence, or hide something
  8. a) Synonyms: deception, scheme, trick, dodge, ruse
    b) The old man utilized subterfuge to thwart the paper route from missing his house.

2 comments:

  1. I will attempt a modicum effort to attempt these words this week.

    Hmm...did I use it properly?

    ReplyDelete
  2. New words are definitely meant for test drives. Try one in your next conversation with someone and see how they react. It's kinda fun!

    ReplyDelete