SAT (Even More Vocabulary IV)

...misery continued

• Incursion (n) an unwelcome entry; an invasion. The US troops were involved in an incursion into an Al-Qaeda camp.
• Invective (adj) using insulting speech. An invective attack on the government.
• Placate (v) to pacify. Only candy can, as always, placate your child.
• Accolade (n) an award or honor; high praise. The players received accolades for their superb performance.
• Assiduous (adj) showing persistent hard-work in doing something; very careful. Inspection teams checking the vaults of commercial banks have to be assiduous in their task.
• Brook (v) to tolerate or bear. I will brook no more any interference in my personal matters.
• Desiccate (v) to loose or remove moisture. His tongue had desiccated from the lack of water.
• Erudite (adj) having profound knowledge. He was an erudite student; far ahead of his classmates.
• Flag (v) (hang like flag :P) to get weak or tired. The long hike left us flagged.
• Impudent (adj) [im- without, -pudere shame] excessively bold, impertinent. He tried to get the attention of his classmate by acting all impudent in front of teachers.
• Baleful (adj) menacing or harmful. Judith gave her brother a baleful stare.
• Divergent (adj) differing. We might agree on many terms but we are divergent, too, on many.
• Effluvium (n) an unpleasant smell usually given off by decaying matter. [!] Effluvia (plural) is the commonly used version.
• Evanescent (adj) fading quickly and soon forgotten. An evanescent burst of color from a balloon. Aurora Borealis is an evanescent phenomenon, disappearing in a heart beat.
• Exigent (adj) demanding quick action. An exigent situation.
• Exonerate (v) (same as vindicate, absolve or acquit) to free from blame or responsibility. The court exonerated Jim from all the charges. Upon the return of her neighbor, Fia was exonerated from caring for his dog.
• Flaunt (v) to show off. The model flaunted her curves in the photoshoot.
• Improvident (adj) lacking foresight or seeing the consequences. Allowing him to take full salary without a full month's work is so improvident of you; you will make him a malignancy for the whole office.
• Ineluctable (adj) (see it as in+eluse+with table :D) inescapable; unavoidable. Your are in an ineluctable situation now; surrounded from all sides, the Policeman voiced over the loudspeaker, I didn't even flinch. (Mafioso)
• Mellifluous (adj) (melli- honey, -fluere flowing) sweetly flowing. Her mellifluous sound echoed through the auditorium; as soothing as a lullaby.
• Ossify (v) [oss- bone] to turn rigid especially in behavior or conduct. The teacher gave him an ossified stare; and he knew at once that he would bear no more. 
• Probity (n) moral correctness or honesty. The suitcase full of dough, challenged the probity of the police chief to the extreme; his ossified eyes suddenly softened and we knew we had the man in our pocket. (Mafioso)
• Proselytize (v) to try to convert somebody to a religion or doctrine. Unlike many economics books; his work doesn't proselytize you but leaves the options open for consideration. (I admit it was a tough one :P)
• Pundit (n) an expert in a particular field. Baseball pundit. Biology pundit.
• Recondite (adj) hard to understand and understood only by a select few. A book in a recondite language.
• Vacuous (adj) [vacuo- empty] inane, unintelligent. You act vacuously before everyone or is it just me?
• Coda (n) concluding music of a composition.
• Penchant (n) a strong liking. England seem to have a penchant for three fast bowlers and a spinner in there starting eleven.
• Abstruse (adj) hard to understand. An abstruse thesis.
• Cognizant (adj) having a knowledge of something. The truck driver wasn't cognizant of the maximum height allowed on the bridge and ended up ramming the top his vehicle in the enforcing barrier.
• Gainsay (v) to deny. The convicted spy gainsaid all allegations.
• Garner (v) to win something or collect something. The ballerina garnered a huge round of applause for her act. You can see ants garnering edibles all around your house.
• Obdurate (adj) [ob- be, dur- hard] stubborn or insensitive. The terrorists were obdurate in their demands; they weren't stepping down from it and neither were softening them.
• Propinquity (n) nearness in time or space. The doctors made him divorce Vinny due to the propinquity of blood. The propinquity of the two bombings gave the investigators useful clues about the fugitives.
• Ribald (adj) vulgar but often humorous speech. A ribald joke.
• Sinuous (adj) (think about sine curves :-)) having many curves. A sinuous road in the mountains.