Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 21 - Day 3

Word List
  • penance [pen´ əns]
    atonement for sin
    → “I have done penance for condemning Love, Whose high imperious thoughts have punished me With bitter fasts, with penitential groans.” William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona
  • ascetic [ə set´ ik]
    one who practices self-denial and devotion
    → “You don’t have to be an ascetic to wonder if there isn’t something a bit manic about the pace of getting and spending in today’s America.” Paul Krugman, “Money Can’t Buy Happiness. Er, Can It?,” New York Times, 6/1/99
  • desultory [des´ əl tôr´ ē]
    occurring by chance, disconnected
    → “Mortimer enters and, distracted by what his aunts are doing, plants a desultory kiss upon Elaine’s cheek.” Joseph Kesselring, Arsenic and Old Lace
  • disciple [də sī´ pəl]
    follower
    → “Rick and his disciples dominated the entire summer scene, making it unpleasant for those who were not part of the inner circle.” Ellis R. Sloane, Catskill Idyll [adapted]
  • metamorphosis [met´ ə mör´ fə sis]
    change
    → “For nearly a year, the dauber, undergoing metamorphosis, inhabits its silken dung-stoppered cocoon inside the mud cell.” Alan Devoe, “The Mad Dauber”

Siddhartha exchanged his sumptuous* garments for a monk’s yellow robe and went out into the world to do penance for what he considered to be his previous life of sin. First he would cleanse himself by becoming an ascetic; then he would study Hindu wisdom in order to be prepared to help his suffering people. After six years of desultory wandering and attracting only a handful of disciples, Siddhartha came to a huge tree near the Indian city of Gaya. For seven weeks he sat beneath its branches, seeking an answer for his personal torment. Finally, it is said, he underwent a metamorphosis, becoming the Enlightened One—the Buddha.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. Billy the Vampire is the only extant* __________ of Count Dracula.
  2. In a remarkable __________ , her lugubrious* mood changed to one of levity.*
  3. Following a lengthy diatribe* against mendacity*, the priest imposed __________ upon the sinner.
  4. The cave of the __________ lacked the opulence* and lush* decoration of his former mansion.
  5. Larry’s compositions proceed in a __________ manner despite the supplication* of his English teacher.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. change
  2. b. atonement for sin
  3. c. occurring by chance, disconnected
  4. d. one who practices self-denial and devotion
  5. e. follower
  1. penance __________
  2. ascetic (n.) __________
  3. desultory __________
  4. disciple __________
  5. metamorphosis __________

Answer Key
the fat is in the fire—the mischief is done
We implored* him to desist* but he said that the fat was already in the fire.

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