Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 2 - Day 4

Word List
  • avid [av´ id]
    eager
    → “CUNY will have no more avid and fierce supporter for its mission than himself.” Karen Arenson, “New Vice-Chairman of CUNY,” New York Times, 6/10/99
  • cajole [kə jōl´]
    coax
    → “We had to cajole tonight’s guest to come on the program because he’s something of a hermit.” Larry King on his CNN TV program, 8/25/99
  • rudimentary [rü´ də men´ tə rē]
    elementary
    → “Some of them were singing, some talking, some engaged in gardening, haymaking, or other rudimentary industries.” “The Other Side of the Hedge,” E. M. Forster
  • enhance [in hans´]
    intensify, heighten
    → “Her breadth of experience and determination to enhance her knowledge have increased her value to Con Edison.” Con Edison Report, Producing Excellence, 1998
  • nuance [nü äns´]
    slight variation in meaning, tone, etc.
    → “With Minnie Driver adroitly mining each nuance of social primness, Jane is the first Disney cartoon heroine to provide her own comic relief.” Richard Corliss, “Him Tarzan, Him Great,” TIME, 6/14/99

As an avid football fan, I try to see every game the Jets play. Whenever I can cajole my father into accompanying me, I try to do so. He has only a rudimentary knowledge of the game, and since I am steeped* in it, I enjoy explaining its intricate details to him. It certainly does enhance your appreciation of football when you are aware of every nuance of the sport.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences. You may have to change the ending of a word.

  1. Since my grasp of algebra is __________, I cannot solve the problem.
  2. The parakeet refused to be __________ into entering her cage.
  3. It will __________ your enjoyment of an opera if you know what the plot is about in advance.
  4. In reading the satires of Jonathan Swift, one must be vigilant* in order to catch each __________.
  5. Bill Clinton is an __________ student of the social media and is listed on Facebook.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. eager
  2. b. slight variation in meaning, tone, etc.
  3. c. coax
  4. d. intensify, heighten
  5. e. elementary
  1. avid __________
  2. cajole __________
  3. rudimentary __________
  4. enhance __________
  5. nuance __________

Answer Key
to beard the lion in his den—to visit and oppose a person on his own grounds
Having decided to beard the lion, I stormed into the manager’s office to ask for a raise.

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