Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 34 - Day 3

Word List
  • tenacious [ti nā´ shəs]
    tough, stubborn
    → “Their talent and tenacious actions on the court will at last reward them.” Darcy Frey, The Last Shot
  • façade [fə säd´]
    front, superficial appearance
    → “He hid behind the façade of public servant to work at a private agenda.” H. L. Woods
  • asinine [as´ n īn]
    silly, stupid
    → “We have developed what I believe is an asinine rating system for motion pictures.” Harold Owen, Jr., The Motion Picture
  • grimace [grə mās´]
    facial expression of disgust
    → “When informed of the death of his best friend, he was unemotional, not a grimace marred his face.” James Jones, The Thin Red Line
  • calumny [kal´ əm nē]
    false accusation, slander
    → “Overwhelmed by the calumny heaped upon him for his prejudice, he quickly resigned.” Jewell Bellush and Dick Netzer, Urban Politics

Thursday was his next-to-last day. He had been tenacious in following up every lead. Now he was behind the eight ball.* He could hardly galvanize* himself to do anything else. The façade of hope he had worn for almost a week was crumbling; there was nothing left to be sanguine* about. In desperation he turned to the police and placed his problem within their jurisdiction.* They asked many questions, and they requested that he not expurgate anything. Some of the questions seemed asinine. When they inquired about his relationship to the missing girl, he replied, with a grimace, “Fiancee.” When they suggested she might be hiding in that part of the city where the “punk” coterie* congregated, he was incredulous* and accused the police of calumny against her good name and reputation.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. He held on to his antiquated* beliefs with a __________ obsession.*
  2. The woman was noted for her vituperative __________ against her innocuous,* although senile,* neighbor.
  3. She could not abjure* a __________ when she saw the disheveled figure.
  4. How __________ of the boy to fabricate* that bizarre* story!
  5. His face wore the most doleful* __________.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. false accusation, slander
  2. b. silly, stupid
  3. c. front, superficial appearance
  4. d. tough, stubborn
  5. e. facial expression of disgust
  1. tenacious __________
  2. façade __________
  3. asinine __________
  4. grimace __________
  5. calumny __________

Answer Key
hook, line, and sinker—completely, all the way
The teacher fell for the practical joke hook, line, and sinker.

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