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Vocab 8
partisan n/adj 1) One who eagerly supports a cause. We cannot get a fair hearing here; the jury is made up of partisans in support of the defendant. 2) Tending to support or favor a cause or idea. Many people, concerned with only one issue such as gun control or abortion, practice partisan politics and vote strictly along ideological lines. (Originally a partisan was a weapon much like a spear, and supporters of a cause would hold their partisans aloft to signal their support).
phlegmatic adj Dull, slow-moving, hard to motivate (from the humor "phlegm"). Samuel, an habitually phlegmatic person, was capable of flashes of great brilliance, but it was almost impossible to motivate him.
recidivism n The tendency to lapse back into bad habits such as criminal and addictive behavior. Prisons and rehab centers pride themselves on "curing" their customers, but 80% recidivism rates indicate that the cure doesn't take very well.
risqué adj Suggestive of or bordering on indelicacy or impropriety. I think it was in pretty bad taste to tell the risqué joke about the traveling salesman to the duchess; she blushed for an hour.
salutary adj Tending to promote health or well-being. Eating well, getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly, and reducing stress are all salutary habits.
scurrilous adj Given to the use of vulgar, coarse, or abusive language; foul-mouthed. Expressed in vulgar, coarse, and abusive language. When we took the Girl Scout troop on a field trip to the New York docks, we had to shield them from the scurrilous language of the dock-workers.
transfix v To fascinate to the point of hypnotizing. Mr. Steen was able to so transfix his students with his lecture on medieval dietary habits that they failed to hear the bell ring and were late to their next class.
virago n An ill-tempered, harsh, scolding woman. Until Petruchio tamed her in The Taming of the Shrew, Kate was a terrifying virago who inspired fear rather than love in her suitors.
vitiate v To make impure or weak by the addition of an impurity or of a weakening agent. Hitler's horrifying Holocaust was largely the result of his fear that intermarriage with Jews would vitiate the "pure" Aryan race.
vitriolic
adj Terribly
caustic and burning, often in words (vitriol = acid). The cruel mother's
vitriolic scolding went way beyond mere discipline and verged on child abuse.