Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know » Week 9 - Day 2

Word List
  • blatant [blāt´ nt]
    disagreeably loud, very showy
    → “It’s a classic blatant pyramid scheme.” Robert Hanley, “Gifting Club,” New York Times, 6/23/99
  • entourage [än´ tü räzh]
    group of attendants
    → “Sinatra was the greatest but I was never a part of his entourage, his rat pack.” Comedian Buddy Hackett to New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York Daily News, 7/14/99
  • virulent [vir´ yə lent]
    full of hate, harmful
    → “Another part of my hope was for communities of people of colour that, for the most part, have been virulently homophobic.” Mark Haslam, “When Bigotry Kills,” Globe and Mail, Toronto, 3/5/99
  • venom [ven´ əm]
    poison, spite, malice
    → “The point envenom’d too! Then, venom, do thy work.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
  • spew [spyü]
    throw up, vomit, eject
    → “It was obvious as the miles of electronic tape began to spew out the new patterns of American life that the census was to be of historic dimension.” Theodore H. White, The Making of the President

Today, the blatant bigot, the leader of a lunatic fringe, and the hate-monger, each with his tiny entourage, find it relatively easy to attract publicity. Newspapers give space to the virulent activities of those agitators on the grounds that they are newsworthy. TV producers and radio executives, seeking for sensationalism, often extend a welcome to such controversial characters. “Yes,” said the host of one such program, “we invite bigots, but it is only for the purpose of making them look ridiculous by displaying their inane* policies to the public.” Some civic-minded organizations have answered, however, that the hosts are not always equipped to demolish those guests, and even if they were, the audience would still be exposed to the venom they spew forth.

Sample Sentences Use the new words in the following sentences.

  1. The visiting dictator’s ubiquitous* __________ of bodyguards disturbed our tranquil* city.
  2. Europe’s population was afflicted* by a __________ plague known as the Black Death.
  3. From each candidate’s headquarters acrimonious* charges would __________ forth daily.
  4. Clym Yeobright’s mother succumbed* to the __________ of a snake bite.
  5. With __________ discourtesy the reporters continued to harass* the bereaved family.

Definitions Match the new words with their meanings.

  1. a. group of attendants
  2. b. disagreeably loud, very showy
  3. c. poison, spite, malice
  4. d. throw up, vomit, eject
  5. e. full of hate, harmful
  1. blatant __________
  2. entourage __________
  3. virulent __________
  4. venom __________
  5. spew __________

Answer Key
to keep a stiff upper lip—to be courageous in the face of trouble
It was admirable to see how the British managed to keep a stiff upper lip in spite of the German bombing.

Favorite Books
Table of Contents