Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 31 - Day 3

Word List
  • strident [strīd´ nt]
    shrill, harsh, rough
    → “No matter how strident or insulting he became, he was not interrupted by the police.” New York Daily News, 9/5/99
  • concomitant [kon kom´ ə tənt]
    accompanying, attending
    → “The doses of the drug were increased with the concomitant result that he quickly became an addict.” Otto Friedrich, Before the Deluge
  • lassitude [las´ ə tüd]
    weariness, fatigue
    → “To poets it’s vernal lassitude but to us it’s simply spring fever.” Brochure, Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce
  • deleterious [del´ ə tir´ ē əs]
    bad, harmful
    → “These statutes will have a deleterious effect on the public interest.” Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, speech, 1960
  • efficacy [ef´ ə kə sē]
    power to produce an effect
    → “He runs his office with the greatest efficacy.” Sally Quinn, Chicago Sun Times, 12/9/79

As the quantity of propaganda becomes greater, ideas are presented in more strident tones in order to overcome the increased competition. Those who are the targets of the propaganda find it more difficult to discern* between or analyze the new and expanded pressures. The concomitant situation that develops with the stepped-up propaganda is one in which the individual retreats into a state of lassitude. He has an aversion* to all attempts to influence him. So we can see the intrinsic* weakness inherent* in an increased level of propaganda. It has the deleterious result of reducing its efficacy upon the individuals or groups who were its objective.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. There are many __________ dangers to obesity.*
  2. Her __________ voice added to the bedlam.*
  3. After the frenzy* that accompanied the burning of the effigy,* they were all acutely* aware of a feeling of __________ .
  4. The gist* of the report was that smoking will have a __________ effect on health.
  5. The __________ of new drugs cannot be determined without a plethora* of evidence.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. power to produce an effect
  2. b. bad, harmful
  3. c. accompanying, attending
  4. d. weariness, fatigue
  5. e. shrill, harsh, rough
  1. strident __________
  2. concomitant __________
  3. lassitude __________
  4. deleterious __________
  5. efficacy __________

Answer Key
swan song—final or last (swans are said to sing before they die)
The ex-champion said that if he lost this fight it would be his swan song.

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