Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 5 - Day 2

Word List
  • flagrant [flā´ grənt]
    outrageous, glaringly bad
    → “Gene Savoy’s flagrant name dropping doesn’t seem to bother any of the visitors on board.” Brad Wetzler, “Crazy for Adventure,” New York Times, 6/6/99
  • admonish [ad mon´ ish]
    to warn, to reprove
    → “A little drummer boy grinned in me face whin I had admonished him wid the buckle av my belt for riotin’ all over the place.” Rudyard Kipling, “The Courting of Dinah Shadd”
  • duress [d res´]
    compulsion, force
    → “Under duress she was forced to admit having lied during a 1994 deposition in her breach of contract law suit.” Associated Press report, Newsday, 6/24/99
  • culprit [kul´ prit]
    the guilty person
    → “We pointed out the tender age and physical slightness of the little culprit.” Thomas Mann, “Mario and the Magician”
  • inexorable [in ek´ sər ə bəl]
    inflexible, unrelenting
    → “Note that it is all in one long sentence, developing inexorably like the slow decay of our lives.” Clifton Fadiman, “They Have Their Exits and Their Entrances”

Mr. Dorsey, our new principal, determined to do something about the flagrant cheating at our high school. He issued bulletins and began to admonish those teachers who did not proctor alertly. Under duress, the faculty reported the names of the culprits. Several crib sheets were turned in as tangible* evidence of the cheating. Mr. Dorsey’s inexorable campaign against the wrong-doers seemed to be paying off.

Sample Sentences Into which sentences do the new words fit best?

  1. The __________ was caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.
  2. Television sleuths are __________ in their pursuit of lawbreakers.
  3. The confession was signed under __________ , the attorney claimed.
  4. I suspect that my father will __________ me for coming home late.
  5. Parking in front of a hydrant is a __________ violation of the city’s law.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. inflexible, unrelenting
  2. b. compulsion, force
  3. c. outrageous, glaringly bad
  4. d. the guilty person
  5. e. to warn, to reprove
  1. flagrant __________
  2. admonish __________
  3. duress __________
  4. culprit __________
  5. inexorable __________

Answer Key
to take down a peg—to take the conceit out of a braggart (ship’s colors used to be raised or lowered by pegs— the higher the colors, the greater the honor)
The alumni thought they had a great basketball team, but our varsity took them down a peg.

Favorite Books
Table of Contents