Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 34 - Day 4

Word List
  • pittance [pit´ ns]
    small amount
    → “To be paid a mere pittance and yet to be suspected of theft; never in her life had she been subjected to such an outrage.” Anton Chekhov, “An Upheaval”
  • au courant [ō´ kü raNt´]
    up-to-date
    → “He seemed to be au courant with everything.” Arnold Bennett, Lord Raingo
  • fastidious [fa stid´ ē əs]
    particular, choosy
    → “A single small elephant tusk took no less than two months of fastidious work to excavate.” Brian Fagan, Time Detectives
  • noisome [noi´ səm]
    foul, unwholesome
    → “The noisome conditions in the refugee camps were a disgrace and a danger.” Newsday, 8/7/99
  • unkempt [un kempt´]
    untidy, neglected
    → “Budget cuts have resulted in overcrowded and unkempt camping sites in our parks.” Freeman Tilden, The National Parks

Failure was imminent,* and Robert was bereft* of hope. It was now Friday. Despite his abstemious* and parsimonious* way of living, his money had been reduced to a mere pittance. A perverse* impulse brought him to the section where young people in strange clothing and with uncouth* manners made him recoil* in unmitigated* disgust. He had never been au courant with the “hippies” and “punks.” He was always fastidious about proper dress and behavior. A moment later he saw her! Evelyn! She was sitting at a table in a coffee shop, surrounded by a coterie* of the most noisome individuals he had ever seen. Evelyn was not incongruous,* for she herself was unkempt. So this was her new habitat*! At that instant Robert knew as an incontrovertible* fact that he had lost her. With a grimace,* he turned and walked, a doleful* and melancholy figure, toward the bus depot and home.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. Styles are such transient* things that what is __________ today, is archaic* tomorrow.
  2. The tip he had been offered was a mere __________ , and the taxi driver threw it on the ground in disdain.*
  3. Children think mothers are asinine* to get upset about __________ rooms.
  4. It was inevitable* that they discover the hidden body by its __________ aroma.
  5. He was so __________ about table manners that he lost his equanimity* when his son reached for the bread.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. untidy, neglected
  2. b. foul, unwholesome
  3. c. small amount
  4. d. particular, choosy
  5. e. up-to-date
  1. pittance __________
  2. au courant __________
  3. fastidious __________
  4. noisome __________
  5. unkempt __________

Answer Key
lily-livered—cowardly
The lily-livered gangster got cold feet* and spilled the beans.*

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