Vocabulary Things They Carried

1. devout
   deeply religious
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Devout Christians usually pray in public and swear in private.
   —Remsburg, John B.
2. profound
   situated at or extending to great depth; too deep to have been sounded or plumbed
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Another mainland businessman who spent several days in Taiwan said the election had a profound impact on his understanding of politics.
   —New York Times (Jan 16, 2012)
3. volition
   the act of making a choice
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Somehow, not by my own volition, I was in the group nearest him.
   —Salon (Jan 27, 2011)
4. ambiguity
   unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   "There should be no ambiguity about that," he said.
   —The Guardian (Aug 5, 2010)
5. reservoir
   lake used to store water for community use
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Two of these reservoirs are kept full of water at all times as a reserve, and in case of fire.
   —Anonymous
6. imperative
   requiring attention or action
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Obama said higher education today is “an economic imperative” instead of a luxury.
   —BusinessWeek (Jan 27, 2012)
7. negligence
   failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   In court papers, the reported victim’s lawyers allege an atmosphere of negligence at Penn State and the Second Mile stretching back decades.
   —New York Times (Nov 30, 2011)
8. acquiescence
   agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   One or two muffled complaints and quiet acquiescence.
   —Salon (Mar 4, 2010)
9. cryptic
   having a secret or hidden meaning
   EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
   

   Also, cryptic handwritten comments were found in a safe at his home that referred to assassination, investigators said.
   —Seattle Times (Jan 26, 2011)
10. reticence
    the trait of being uncommunicative; not volunteering anything more than necessary
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Mr. Bernard, known for reticence, not public belligerence, smiled slightly before answering.
    —New York Times (Jul 28, 2011)
11. insufficient
    of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Treasury, said donations are insufficient to solve the budget deficit.
    —BusinessWeek (Jan 23, 2012)
12. monotonous
    sounded or spoken in a tone unvarying in pitch
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    The old man stopped suddenly, having told all his story in a dull, monotonous voice, with little feeling and no dramatic display.
    —Allen, Grant
13. elusive
    skillful at eluding capture
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    While details remain elusive, “there’s an increasing consciousness that this is the only way forward.”
    —BusinessWeek (Nov 14, 2011)
14. intransitive
    designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a direct object
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    In the last stanza, though, Housman rhymes three intransitive verbs – "nighs", "sighs", "replies".
    —The Guardian (Aug 15, 2011)
15. amnesty
    a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense
16. oppressive
    weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    An oppressive silence followed, while each girl looked blankly at her neighbor.
    —Halsey, Rena I.
17. encysted
    enclosed in (or as if in) a cyst
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    After death the bullet was found buried and encysted in the heart.
    —Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)
18. intangible
    incapable of being perceived by the senses especially the sense of touch
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    There are too many other factors, intangible factors, that make up a company’s value.
    —Forbes (Aug 15, 2011)
19. laxity
    the quality of being lax and neglectful
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    There reigned also a deplorable laxity of morals; and the graceful Polish women were very seductive.
    —Hoffmann, E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus)
20. fungal
    of or relating to fungi
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Fungal infections are even more difficult to treat.
    —Nature (Oct 12, 2011)
21. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    A more profound cinematic influence for would-be lawyers, he said, is Atticus Finch, that symbol of moral rectitude in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
    —New York Times (Oct 21, 2010)
22. proximity
    the property of being close together
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    And despite its proximity to Japan, South Korea, with 21 active nuclear reactors, is moving forward on 18 more.
    —New York Times (Jan 12, 2012)
23. affirm
    to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    In reclaiming "Flying," Young affirms that for him country music wasn't just another '80s mood swing, but an essential building block of his career.
    —Chicago Tribune (Jun 13, 2011)
24. ordinance
    an authoritative rule
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    At the same time, an ordinance was issued forbidding any person to carry out the King's good money or to bring in counterfeit.
    —Shaw, William Arthur
25. comport
    behave in a certain manner
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Ironically, the one man on stage who did comport himself with dignity, John Huntsman, is now being dismissed as having not made an impact.
    —Time (Sep 8, 2011)
26. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Bad advice, judgments and platitudes are not what Mitch needs right now.
    —The Guardian (Aug 11, 2011)
27. catharsis
    purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    We needed distance and now we can finally have catharsis.”
    —New York Times (Jun 14, 2010)
28. eviscerate
    remove the entrails of
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    These animals were being eviscerated and just left there to slowly die, flailing about in the sun.
    —New York Times (Sep 20, 2010)
29. accord
    concurrence of opinion
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    The numbers present were not precisely ascertainable, as the men were not under discipline, but had turned up of their own accord.
    —Duncan, Sara Jeannette
30. selective
    characterized by very careful or fastidious selection
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    At a time of global uncertainties, though, consumers are becoming more selective.
    —Reuters (Nov 9, 2011)
31. figurative
    (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    I mean a kick in the figurative sense; the one that leaves no trace, and does not prevent us from sitting at our ease.
    —O'Rell, Max
32. objector
    a person who dissents from some established policy
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    A conscientious objector, he did not enlist in the armed forces during the second world war.
    —The Guardian (Jan 23, 2011)
33. implausible
    highly imaginative but unlikely
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    I find it utterly implausible that Google charges sites for placement in its search results, as the EU's inquiry insinuates.
    —Washington Post (Jan 14, 2011)
34. topography
    the configuration of a surface and the relations among its man-made and natural features
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    He had had some training in topography and he kindly agreed to take over the map question.
    —Roosevelt, Theodore
35. immediacy
    the quickness of action or occurrence
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    This absence of body language, and the single-click immediacy of online sharing has created problems that have no ready parallel offline.
    —New York Times (Sep 3, 2010)
36. conscientious
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    A conscientious hostess would be very much mortified if she served chicken out of its proper course.
    —Reed, Myrtle
37. predatory
    living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Predatory birds, feeding on fish, insects, and even reptiles, birds, and small quadrupeds.
    —Johns, Rev. C. A.
38. defiance
    a hostile challenge
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    But in light of Iran’s continued defiance, some, including many in Israel, have argued that military action is the only solution.
    —Washington Post (Nov 8, 2011)
39. evasion
    the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    Two of its partners were found guilty of tax evasion in May.
    —Reuters (Jan 13, 2012)
40. controversial
    marked by or capable of arousing controversy
    EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
    

    The sites are blacking out to protest controversial anti-piracy legislation in the House and Senate.
    —Forbes (Jan 17, 2012)
41. toiling
    doing arduous or unpleasant work
42. serenity
    the absence of mental stress or anxiety
43. monotony
    constancy of tone or pitch or inflection
44. bewilderment
    confusion resulting from failure to understand
45. taut
    pulled or drawn tight