Vocabulary Enrichment #1

Myriad (adj.) 

countless or extremely great in number

Myriad stars could be seen in the sky.

Innocuous (adj.)
producing no injury
The room was innocuous after they baby-proofed it.

Feign (verb)

pretend to be affected by

Tim feigned surprise since he already knew about his surprise party.

Temerity (noun)
unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition
The mouse had the temerity to run past the cat.

Affront (verb)
to insult especially to the face by behavior or language
The student affronted the teacher when he yelled at her.

Acquiesce (verb)

to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively

They failing company acquiesced the buyout offer.

Interim (noun)
an intervening time
There was an interim between act one and act two.

Trepidation (noun)
a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen
After the earthquake, trepidation filled the air as people worried about aftershocks.

Alleviate (verb)
to make something more bearable
The painkillers alleviated the pain.

Stagnant (adj.)
not flowing in a current stream; not advancing or developing
The dam made the river stagnant.

Elicit (verb)
to call forth or draw out such as information or a response
The teacher elicited responses from the students.

Exacerbate (verb)
to make more violent, bitter, or severe
The whistle annoys and exacerbates the pack of wild wolves.

Tumultuous (adj.)
marked by tumult; loud, excited, and emotional
The flight began tumultuous as they flew through the storm. 

Bolster (verb)
to support with or as if with a bolster; reinforce
The shelves bolstered the books.

Cajole (verb)
to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance
Her son cajoled her into giving him an extra cookie.

Clandestine (adj.)
marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy
The clandestine letter remained lost for years.

Ameliorate (verb)
to make better or more tolerable
While he hated musicals, the free food ameliorated the experience.

Cessation (noun)
a temporary or final ceasing; stop
The bell marked the cessation of one class and the beginning of another.

Proliferation (noun)
the rapid increase in numbers
Her room always seemed to be filling with a proliferation of clothes.

Fervent (adj.)
exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling
Fervent fans started lining up days before the event started.

Ubiquitous (adj.)
existing or being everywhere at the same time
Out of nowhere, hydroflasks became ubiquitous.

Sweltering (adj.)
oppressively hot
The Sahara Desert sun was sweltering. 

Extraneous (adj.)
existing on or coming from the outside
All the extraneous light from the window entered my lens causing overexposure.

Recalcitrant (adj.)
obstinately defiant of authority or restraint
The recalcitrant thief ran away from the police.

Schadenfreude (noun)
enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others
His schadenfreude grew when he began teasing the other kids.

Malleable (adjective)
capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences
She was malleable to peer pressure.

Augment (verb)
to make greater, more numerous, larger or more intense
The store's inventory augmented with the extra inventory.

Debauchery (noun)
extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures
They had a night of debaucheries for her 21st birthday.

Decadence (noun)
the process of becoming decadent (characterized by or appealing to self-indulgence)
The decorated palace was a symbol of the decadence the royal family had.

Presumptive (adj.)
giving ground for reasonable opinion or belief
His presumptive accusation was caused by the surveillance camera footage. 

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