Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 12 - Day 4

Word List
  • timorous [tim´ ər əs]
    fearful
    → “He was a timorous incompetent who was lucky to have good men under him.” W. A. Swanberg, Citizen Hearst
  • truncated [trung´ kā tid]
    cut short
    → “It will be much harder if their state (Palestine) is so truncated, so cut up, that it is not viable.” Anthony Lewis, “The Irrelevance of a Palestinian State,” New York Times, 6/20/99
  • jaunty [jôn´ tē]
    sprightly, gay
    → “The cadet was very trim in his red breeches and blue tunic, his white gloves spotless, his white cockade jaunty, his heart in his mouth.” Alexander Woolcott, “Entrance Fee”
  • fractious [frak´ shəs]
    quarrelsome
    → “The fractious couple received a tongue lashing from Judge Judy.” Arnold Feigenbaum, “Television Justice?”
  • ostentatious [os´ ten tā´ shəs]
    showy
    → “He affected simplicity, partly because he was ugly, but more because being ostentatious might have irritated those of whom he always spoke of as ‘my fellow citizens.’” Emil Ludwig, Michelangelo

At last, Monte’s chance to perform came. He had played the timorous Lion in a truncated version of “The Wizard of Oz,” which the apprentices had staged. But now there was an open audition to cast the final show of the season. It was to be a jaunty original comedy, given a summer tryout prior to a Broadway opening. Monte, who by now had adopted the stage name of Monte Merryweather, read for the producers, hoping to get the part of the hero’s fractious landlord. Unfortunately, the competition was too rough—but the director assigned Monte to a less ostentatious part. And so for the first two weeks in September the stage-struck accountant had a two-minute, two-line part. What was his role? The hero’s accountant!

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. It is frustrating* to have one’s lengthy remarks printed in __________ form.
  2. With his cap set at a __________ angle, the amicable* sailor strutted down the street.
  3. In an __________ display of histrionics* the star refused to perform.
  4. Under duress* the normally __________ husband was coerced* into demanding a raise.
  5. Roger’s __________ behavior compounded* the bad relationship he had already had with his partner.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. fearful
  2. b. cut short
  3. c. sprightly, gay
  4. d. showy
  5. e. quarrelsome
  1. timorous __________
  2. truncated __________
  3. jaunty __________
  4. fractious __________
  5. ostentatious __________

Answer Key
Indian summer—warm autumn weather
Parts of the country were deep in snow, but the East was enjoying an Indian summer.

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