Vocabulary/Spelling List #11

Charlatan - noun

a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.

Cross - adjective

angry and annoyed; ill-humored; snappish

Erudite - adjective

characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly: an erudite professor; an erudite commentary.

Fecundity - noun

1. the quality of being fecund;  capacity, especially in female animals, of producing young in great numbers.

2. fruitfulness or fertility, as of the earth.

3. the capacity of abundant production: fecundity of imagination.

Frontispiece - noun

1. an illustrated leaf preceding the title page of a book.

2. Architecture . a façade, or a part or feature of a façade, often highlighted by ornamentation.

Gesticulate 

verb (used without object)

1. to make or use gestures,  especially in an animated or excited manner with or instead of speech.

verb (used with object)

2. to express by gesturing.

Inveigle - verb (used with object)

1. to entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements (usually followed by into ): to inveigle a person into playing bridge.

2. to acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods (usually followed by from  or away ): to inveigle a theater pass from a person.

Parry - 

verb (used with object)

1. to ward off (a thrust, stroke, weapon, etc.), as in fencing; avert.

2. to turn aside; evade or dodge: to parry an embarrassing question.

verb (used without object)

3. to parry a thrust, blow, etc.

noun

4. an act or instance of parrying, as in fencing.

5. a defensive movement in fencing.

Placid - adjective

pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed: placid waters.

Saturnine - adjective

1. sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn.

2. suffering from lead poisoning, as a person.

3. due to absorption of lead, as bodily disorders.

Surreptitiously - adjective

1. obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.

2. acting in a stealthy way.

3. obtained by subreption; subreptitious.

Vapid - adjective

1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.

2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.

Vouchsafe 

verb (used with object)

1. to grant or give, as by favor, graciousness, or condescension: to vouchsafe a reply to a question.

2. to allow or permit, as by favor or graciousness: They vouchsafed his return to his own country.

verb (used without object)

3. to condescend; deign.