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demagogue n A leader who leads more by emotion that reason. Hitler's message was one of hate and fear, but he was such a fiery demagogue that people listened to him with their hearts and not their minds.
droll adj Dry and understated, as a sense of humor. Stephen's droll sense of humor just cracked up his more intellectual friends, but the less intelligent simply didn't get him at all.
endemic
adj Native
to a particular region, usu. with "to." Gila Monsters are endemic
to the American southwest, but they are never found elsewhere except in zoos.
exhort v To urge or to encourage with strong emotion and language. We were exhorted by our leader to fight for the cause, and he inspired us with such devotion that we gladly offered to lay down our lives.
fastidious adj Extremely fussy and hard to please, attentive to detail and easily offended. My mother, the most fastidious of women, dusted under her lampshades, wiped her mouth at every bite of food, and blushed fiercely when anyone said the word "darn" in her presence.
felicitous adj Happy and fortunate, from the Spanish "felicitas." The discovery of penicillin was most felicitous; a piece of moldy bread and a scientist's keen eye gave us one of the great antibiotics of the 20th century.
flounder v To struggle helplessly. 1) Since I have only just completed Algebra I, I am likely to flounder in this Differential Calculus course. 2) The racehorse was running well until he reached the mud; then he began to flounder in the damp earth.
lugubrious adj Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree. The funeral director was trying to sound sympathetic and mournful, but his tone was so incredibly lugubrious that we almost had to laugh.
patina n A fine and shiny finish, especially as it is produced by long use. Also the green oxidation on copper. The mahogany table had been in our family for over 200 years, and generations of polishing and care had left it with a lustrous patina.
philanthropy
n
From phil = love + anthro = mankind. The love of mankind and the act
of providing for one's fellow man with generous donations and acts. Reginald,
famous for his philanthropy, had given away nearly $10,000,000 over the years to
various charities and relief organizations.