Level FVocabulary Unit

#2

Focus Words

bombastic callow epitome

ingratiate

occult surmise

bombastic= negative

(adj) pompous; high-sounding language

•pretentious•inflated

My teacher wants me to write clear, direct responses, not just fill up lines with bombastic blabber.

bombastic

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bombastic

pretentious-

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pretentious

pompous-

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pompous?s=t

OriginsEither from bombast (“padding, stuffing”), or from middle name of Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus), who often used extremely arrogant speaking style.

Other Forms

boasted bombastically- Adverbbombastical politician- Adjective

callow=negative

(adj) without experience; immature; lacking sophistication and poise

•inexperience•green

Fans complained about the bad calls made by the callow NFL referees.

callow

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/callow?s=t

No Feather

s

No Feather

s

OriginsOld English calu ‘bald’; probably from Latin calvus ‘bald.’ This was extended to mean ‘unfledged,’ which led to the present sense ‘immature.’

Other Forms

comparative adjective: callower

(especially of a young person) inexperienced and immature

without hair without feathers

epitome=positive

(n) A condensed account; an instance that represents a larger reality

•model•archetype

The Queen of England is the epitome of a proper lady.

epitome

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/epitome?s=t

abstract or digest

Other Forms

 plural noun: epitomes

Origin:early 16th century: via Latin from Greek epitomē, from epitemnein ‘abridge,’ from epi ‘in addition’ + temnein ‘to cut.’

ingratiate=negative

(v) To make oneself agreeable to and

accepted by others

• cozy up to• gain favor by others

(sometimes used in a derogatory manner)

Betsy tried to ingratiate herself to her new team members by bringing them cupcakes.

ingratiate

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ingratiate

Other Forms

Ingratiating adjectiveIngratiatingly adverbIngratiation nounIngratiatory adjectiveingratiated, ingratiating transitive verb

Origin:early 17th century: from Latin in gratiam ‘into favor,’ on the pattern of obsolete Italian ingratiare, earlier form of ingraziare.

occult=negative

(adj) mysterious, magical

(verb) to hide or conceal

•supernatural•esoteric

There were rumors that the old woman had occult powers.

occult

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/occult

esoteric

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric

abstruse -difficult to comprehend

Other Forms

Origin:late 15th century (as a verb): from Latin occultare ‘secrete,’ frequentative of occulere ‘conceal,’ based on celare ‘to hide’; the adjective and noun from occult- ‘covered over,’ from the verb occulere .

oc·cult′ly- adverboc·cult′ness- nounoc·cult·ed, oc·cult·ing, oc·cults- verb

surmise=negative

(v) to guess without support or proof

(n) Idea that lacks proof

•infer•gather

After looking at the test scores, I surmise that some students did not study.

surmise

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surmise

Other Forms

Origin:late Middle English (in the senses ‘formal allegation’ and ‘allege formally’): from Anglo-Norman French and Old French surmise, feminine past participle of surmettre ‘accuse,’ from late Latin supermittere ‘put in afterward,’ from super- ‘over’ + mittere ‘send.’

verb: surmise; 3rd person present: surmises; past tense: surmised; past participle: surmised; gerund or present participle: surmisingnoun: surmise; plural noun: surmises

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Quizlet

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