Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 20 - Day 2

Word List
  • redolent [red´ l ənt]
    fragrant
    → “The scene—a decrepit classroom, redolent of moldy books, and the pencil shavings of generations of boys being ground into the hardwood floor.” Jon Robin Baitz, The Film Society
  • repose [ri pōz´]
    state of rest
    → “Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest Come to thy heart as that within my breast.” William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
  • omnivorous [om niv´ ər əs]
    eating any kind of food
    → “He became an omnivorous reader of the classics.” T. S. Lovering, Child Prodigies
  • disparate [dis´ pər it]
    different
    → “At the moment standardized tests have a disparate racial and ethnic impact.” Abigail Thernstrom, “Testing, the Easy Target,” New York Times, 6/10/99
  • abstemious [ab ste´ mē əs]
    moderate in eating or drinking
    → “Be more abstemious Or else, good night your vow.” William Shakespeare, The Tempest

In addition to menacing our health, cockroaches are smelly, filthy, and ugly. Upon entering a cellar that is redolent with their aroma, you are not likely to forget the odor. And when you spy the foul culprits* creating havoc* in your sugar bowl or in repose atop your chocolate cake, your disposition may be exacerbated.* Roaches are omnivorous and will feast upon such disparate items as wallpaper, upholstery, nylon stockings, and beer. No one can accuse the hungry and thirsty bugs of being abstemious.

Sample Sentences The words above fit into the blanks below

  1. While the palace guards were in __________ , the rebels’ coup* began in earnest.
  2. Coach Fischer issued a fiat* that required that his players be __________ .
  3. The __________ scent that came from the bakery created in Eloise a sense of nostalgia* for her grandmother’s bread.
  4. __________ eaters find the dietary laws in some hotels to be too restrictive.*
  5. Regardless of how __________ their crimes were, all the prisoners were freed by the general amnesty.*

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. different
  2. b. fragrant
  3. c. moderate in eating or drinking
  4. d. eating any kind of food
  5. e. state of rest
  1. redolent __________
  2. repose (n.) __________
  3. omnivorous __________
  4. disparate __________
  5. abstemious __________

Answer Key
a lick and a promise—to do something in a hasty and superficial manner
The meticulous* housewife was in so much of a hurry that she could only give the apartment a lick and a promise.

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