Wordly Wise Lesson 9

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Wordly Wise Lesson 9

• By Alexandra Koutelos

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abet

• V. To encourage or assist in some activity,
  especially a questionable one.
• Sarah was abetted by Tom when she trashed Simons
  locker even though it wasnt his idea, Tom ended
  up in just as much trouble as Sarah.

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agile

• Adj. 1. Able to move quickly and easily nimble.
• Sophie was as agile as a cat when she jumped down
  from her tree house and landed without injury.
• 2. Able to think quickly.
• Alexandra demonstrated her agile mind when she
  found a solution in five minutes to a problem her
  parents had been trying to solve for months.

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allot

• V. To assign or distribute as a portion or share.
• Mr. Tetreault allotted us five minutes of the
  period to study before our Wordly Wise midterm.

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balmy

• Adj. Soothing mild.
• The weather in Block Island was balmy we enjoyed
  our trip very much since the weather was
  reasonable enough to do what we wanted.

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congregate

• V. To come together in a group assemble.
• The club usually congregates at my house on
  Saturday evenings at 830 p.m. my house is the
  easiest to travel to for all the club members to
  be able to meet in one place.

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divert

• V. 1. To turn aside.
• When the river overflowed its banks, the
  engineers had to divert the water with sandbags
  to keep it from flooding the town.
• 2. To entertain or amuse.
• The gypsies diverted the crowd while the magician
  got his props together.

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humdrum

• Adj. Lacking excitement boring or monotonous.
• The clowns act seems humdrum compared to the
  last acts performance of course, watching
  someone make balloon animals after seeing a
  person light himself on fire and get shot out of
  a cannon is bound to be anti-climactic.

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influx

• N. A flowing or pouring in arrival in massive
  numbers.
• The theatres employees were surprised by the
  influx of theatre-goers for the plays opening
  night they didnt think this certain play would
  get much notice.

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intricate

• Adj. Complicated having many related details or
  parts.
• The Persian tapestry is very intricate Ive been
  seeing it every day for five years, and I still
  find new designs and details I hadnt noticed
  before.

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memento

• N. Something kept as a reminder of a past event
  a souvenir.
• My handmade babushka doll is one of the many
  mementos I have of my trip to Russia.

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query

• N. A question.
• This department receives hundreds of queries
  every year about what, exactly, we do here.
• V. To ask or ask about.
• Dr. Rivas queried her patient about any past
  hospital visits since the last time she saw her.

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sporadic

• Adj. Happening occasionally not regularly.
• The So So Glos only have sporadic performances
  you never know when their next show may be.

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staple

• N. 1. A basic food that is used frequently and in
  large amounts.
• Platanos and aros con pollo are staples of Puerto
  Rican cooking.
• 2. A U-shaped fastener with sharp ends.
• When I stepped on a staple, it hurt.
• V. To attach with staples.
• I tried to staple my poster to the wall, but the
  wall was made out of cinderblocks.
• Adj. Most important principle.
• A staple of Alaskas economy is oil.

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tumult

• N. Noisy excitement an uproar or disturbance.
• There was a great deal of tumult when our tem won
  the championship.
• tumultuous Adj. Marked by uproar or excitement,
  turbulent.
• Natalie Woods tumultuous relationship with
  Robert Wagner was highly publicized by the
  tabloids that may have been one of the reasons
  they split up.

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unseemly

• Adj. Not suitable inappropriate or improper.
• The outfit that Rosa wore to the wedding was
  unseemly only the bride should wear white to a
  wedding!