Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 30 - Day 3

Word List
  • omnipotent [om nip´ ə tənt]
    almighty, unlimited in power or authority
    → “In those comic strips there was always a cruel and omnipotent villain.” Letter, New York Times, 9/13/99
  • zenith [zē´ nith]
    summit, top, prime
    → “At the zenith of her fame as a musical star, she was assassinated by a crazed fan.” H. Hudson, People, 7/21/97
  • fledgling [flej´ ling]
    little known, newly developed
    → “Women’s professional basketball, recently a fledgling sport, has taken root and grown into a major spectator event.” Sports, 9/14/99
  • peremptory [pə remp´ tər ē]
    absolute, compulsory, binding
    → “Mr. Greenspan encouraged his fellow Federal Reserve Board members today to undertake a peremptory attack against inflation.” Reuters, “Financial News Letter,” 3/99
  • precedent [pres´ ə dənt]
    custom, model
    → “One can imagine a time when the voters ignore precedent and elect a woman to the office of President of the United States.” Barbara Walker, The Women’s Encyclopedia

The riverboat pilot was a man considered omnipotent by all. Mark Twain once held that high position. He writes that he felt at the zenith of his life at that time. Starting out as a fledgling pilot’s apprentice, he could not abjure dreams of the time he would become, “the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the earth.” Kings, parliaments, and newspaper editors, Twain comments, are hampered and restricted. The river pilot issued peremptory commands as absolute monarch. The captain was powerless to interfere. Even though the pilot was much younger than the captain, and the steamer seemed to be in imminent* danger, the older man was helpless. The captain had to behave impeccably,* for any criticism of the pilot would establish a pernicious* precedent that would have undermined the pilot’s limitless authority.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. Under the aegis* of an adroit* master, he reached the __________ of his career.
  2. We would scoff* at anyone calling himself __________ .
  3. There is no __________ for voting when there is no quorum.*
  4. The __________ poet lived a frugal* life.
  5. No one had the temerity* to disobey the officer’s __________ order.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. summit, top, prime
  2. b. little known, newly developed
  3. c. absolute, compulsory, binding
  4. d. custom, model
  5. e. almighty, unlimited in power or authority
  1. omnipotent __________
  2. zenith __________
  3. fledgling __________
  4. peremptory __________
  5. precedent __________

Answer Key
in the lap of the gods—out of one’s own hands
I handed in my application for the job, and now it is in the lap of the gods.

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