Vocabulary List #3

Accolade: any award, honor, or laudatory notice
Example: The honors student received the highest accolades at the award ceremony.
Acerbity: sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste/harshness or severity, as of temper or expression
Ex: The teacher made no effort to hide her acerbity and made the students do a pop quiz when they asked too many questions.
Attrition: a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength/wearing down or weakening of resistance
Ex: There was a high rate of attrition in the anarchy group once the military became involved in their movement.
Bromide: a platitude or trite saying/person who is platitudinous and boring
Ex: It was hard to focus on the man's speech, for he was such a bromide.
Chauvinist:  a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism/biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause
Ex: The attacks were carried out by a group of chauvinists from an enemy country.
Chronic: constant, habitual, inveterate/continuing a long time or recurring
Ex: Alyssa has the chronic habit of chewing her nails.
Expound: to set forth or state in detail/to explain, interpret
Ex: After reading a summary of Beowulf, Maddi asked me to expound upon the poem so she could better understand the details.
Factionalism: splitting into factions
Ex: The nation's economic and political stability was threatened by the internal factionalism.
Immaculate: free from spot or stain; spotlessly clean/free from moral blemish or impurity/free from fault or errors
Ex: The cult members apotheosized their leader, whom they felt was perfect and immaculate in every way.
Ineluctable: incapable of being evaded; inescapable
Ex: As little as I like it, my birthday is tomorrow, and it's ineluctable, I'll be another year older.
Mercurial: changeable, volatile, fickle, flighty, erratic/lively, animated
Ex: The mercurial nature of the girl made it hard to work with her.
Palliate: to relieve or lessen without curing, mitigate, alleviate
Ex: When I complained about my wisdom teeth coming in, my mother told me that some aspirin and ice should palliate the pain.
Protocol: the customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, procedure, and etiquette
Ex: The efforts to improve relations between countries were wasted when the diplomat broke protocol and blew the deal.
Resplendent: attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous
Ex: The art lover found most of Van Gogh's paintings to be colorful and resplendent.
Stigmatize: to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon
Ex: The tax collector was not happy with the way his position was stigmatized, he was just trying to do his job.
Sub rosa: confidentially, secretly, privately ("under the rose")
Ex: My friend Jessica and I can tell each other our secrets sub rosa without worry.
Vainglory: excessive elation or pride over one's one achievements, abilities, etc., boastful vanity
Ex: It wasn't the fact that he had won so many awards and trophies, but his excessive hubris and vainglory that made the boy unpopular.
Vestige: a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence/ surviving evidence or remainder
Ex: If you take a short hike off the road in Santa Barbara, you can find Knapp's Castle, the vestiges of a wealthy man's home that once stood on a hill.
Volition: the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing/choice or decision made by will
 Ex: No one forced her to pay for their dinner; she decided she'd pay for everyone by her own volition.