Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 42 - Day 2

Word List
  • ennui [än´ wē]
    boredom
    → “The ennui and utter emptiness of a life of pleasure is fast urging fashionable women to something better.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Newport Convention
  • comely [kum´ lē]
    beautiful, handsome
    → “An island peopled by the most comely women to be seen anywhere, Bora Bora is a must.” Travel, 11/99
  • frenetic [frə net´ ik]
    frantic, frenzied
    → “There is no place more frenetic than a newspaper office when a major story is breaking.” Herbert Brucker, Journalist
  • artifice [är´ tə fis]
    strategy, trickery
    → “The successful advertiser will use any artifice to get his message seen.” E. S. Turner, The Shocking History of Advertising
  • diversity [də vėr´ sə tē]
    variety, change
    → “Mr. Oates said this rare document belonged in Queens because it is the center of ethnic diversity for this country.” New York Times, 1/5/00

Some television commercials, trying to break through the ennui built up in the viewer by the plethora* of competition, employ humor. Others feature a comely girl as a pretext* for getting the viewer to stay tuned in. At times raucous* music, accompanied by some frenetic activities, is designed to preclude* the viewer’s loss of attention. The advertiser will employ every bit of artifice at the film maker’s command to make a trenchant* commercial. The diversity of appeals made to the viewer is a concomitant* of the many ways people react to commercials. A great deal of time and money has gone into placing the consumer’s psychological make-up under scrutiny.*

Sample Sentences Use the new words in these sentences.

  1. The omnipotent* dictator employed all of his rhetoric* to vilify* those who would be brash* enough to suggest that a __________ of opinions should be expressed.
  2. The fledgling* pianist knew that his mentor* would take umbrage* at his yawning during the lesson, but the feeling of __________ was overwhelming.
  3. He was reticent* about revealing his clandestine* meetings with a __________ young girl counselor at this camp.
  4. They furtively* employed every kind of __________ to be able to meet.
  5. They were vigilant* in order that their surreptitious* meetings would not be discovered, and it often required __________ changes of plans to preclude* exposure.

Definitions Match the new words with their definitions.

  1. a. frantic, frenzied
  2. b. boredom
  3. c. beautiful, handsome
  4. d. strategy, trickery
  5. e. variety, change
  1. ennui __________
  2. comely __________
  3. frenetic __________
  4. artifice __________
  5. diversity __________

Answer Key
worth one’s weight in gold—extremely valuable, very useful
The coach said the new star center was worth his weight in gold.

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