Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 20 - Day 4

Word List
  • puissant [pyü´ ə sent] or [pyü is´ nt]
    powerful
    → “The combination of the drugs has become a puissant cocktail in the fight against AIDS.” Medical report, CBS News, 9/20/98
  • unabated [un´ ə bāt´ id]
    without subsiding
    → “The summer list of auto fatalities continues unabated as three more Southampton teens are killed in a Sunday crash.” W. Mariano, “A Final Farewell,” Newsday, 6/25/99
  • maudlin [môd´ lən]
    sentimental
    → “Uncle Billy passed rapidly into a state of stupor, the Duchess became maudlin, and Mother Shipton snored.” Bret Harte, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
  • levity [lev´ ə tē]
    lightness of disposition
    → “There was something about the company’s president that made levity seem out of place.” Lloyd Sperling, A Boiler Room Operation
  • lugubrious [lü gü´ brē əs]
    very sad
    → “Lugubrious notices on the passing of old friends were a feature of the local paper.” TIME, 8/20/99

The U.S. Public Health Service admits to frustration* in its attempts to destroy the cockroach. As soon as the scientists devise a puissant chemical, some bugs succumb.* But the hardy ones survive and breed a resistant strain. Since the average female produces close to three hundred descendants, little hope is held out for a final solution to the roach problem. Nevertheless, extermination campaigns continue unabated. Surprisingly, some sentimental souls become maudlin as they consider the persecution of the insects. A writer noted for his levity made a lugubrious plea for a crash program of aid for the cockroach, calling him “a victim of his slum environment.”

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. She advocated* __________ music as appropriate background for the funeral scene.
  2. Although the debater’s rebuttal was __________ , it was totally irrelevant.*
  3. The plague continued __________ , and the hapless* Friar John was unable to deliver the note to Romeo.
  4. A good barometer* of the reunion’s success was the number of __________ songs that the alumni sang.
  5. Dean Flanigan admonished* us for our __________ at the graduation exercises.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. sentimental
  2. b. very sad
  3. c. lightness of disposition
  4. d. without subsiding
  5. e. powerful
  1. puissant __________
  2. unabated __________
  3. maudlin __________
  4. levity __________
  5. lugubrious __________

Answer Key
to take the wind out of one’s sails—to remove someone’s advantage
Although Edna was bristling* with anger when she stormed in, I took the wind out of her sails by voicing my own displeasure at the way she had been treated.

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