Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 38 - Day 3

Word List
  • foist [foist]
    pass off slyly, pass as genuine
    → “Eventually, advertisements began to foist off the use of perfume as a way to snare a man.” E. S. Turner, The Shocking History of Advertising [adapted]
  • stigmatize [stig´ mə tīz]
    to mark with a disgrace
    → “People who so much as whisper during a performance are stigmatized as barbarians.” Joseph Wechsberg, The Best Things in Life
  • capitulate [kə pich´ ə lāt]
    surrender, make terms
    → “The embattled leader refused to capitulate to demands for his resignation.” Newsweek, 8/19/99
  • audacity [ô das´ ə tē]
    boldness, daring
    → “Boldness be my friend! Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!” William Shakespeare, Cymbeline
  • tantalize [tan´ tl īz]
    tease or torment by offering something good, but not deliver
    → “We were tantalized by a glimpse of a brown bear and her cubs in the wood.” Travel and Leisure, 10/97

Once the fashion industry has been able to foist a new style on the teenager, the older generation tends to stigmatize it as some form of rebellion. What is often ignored is that the young consumers capitulate to what is originated* by someone outside of their group. The feelings of individuality and audacity that the teenager gets from a new style of dress result from the propensity* of their elders to disparage* them. The actual situation is that the clothing fashions soon become accepted by all; there is nothing upsetting or revolutionary about them. While people are becoming complacent* about the “new,” the clothing industry is busy planning how to tantalize the teenager with next year’s “fashion.” This arbitrary* decision is guaranteed to foment* consternation* among adults once again in the following year.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. Despite tenacious* resistance, they were ousted* from the strongpoint and had to __________ to the enemy.
  2. It was an asinine* thing to do—to __________ his opponent as a bigot* and thus exacerbate* an already bitter campaign.
  3. .It is common to hear people disparage* those who paint in the modern genre*; they speak about the __________ of the artist who submits a high white canvas with a black border as a serious work.
  4. They are dubious* of such an artist and accuse him of trying to __________ as a work of art a rudimentary* exercise.
  5. It is reprehensible* to __________ a young child with the promise of a reward for being good when you have no intention of giving it.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. surrender, make terms
  2. b. to mark with a disgrace
  3. c. boldness, daring
  4. d. pass off slyly, pass as genuine
  5. e. tease or torment by offering something good, but not deliver
  1. foist __________
  2. stigmatize __________
  3. capitulate __________
  4. audacity __________
  5. tantalize __________

Answer Key
castles in the air—a dream about some wonderful future
People on Skid Row* often build castles in the air.

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