Vocabulary #2

accoutrements- additional objects to put on your person for a specific task, like equipment used as clothes. The accoutrements of a police officer are his billy club, badge and taser.

apogee- the highest point of development of something. The apogee of the British empire was when it controlled one third of the globe.

apropos- concerning something, pertaining to something.  Some topics in Math Analysis seemed apropos to nothing.

bicker- to argue about trivial maters.  Siblings often bicker.

coalesce- to come together into something.  In the virtual choir, many singers from around the globe coalesced into one group.

contretemps- a minor unexpected or unfortunate occurrence.  Many british sitcoms deal with humorous contretemps, often under a large misfortune that is overshadowed by these trivial maters, such as Fawlty Towers and Blackadder.

convolution- twists, and coils, or a function derived from two functions through integration. The brain is made up of many sinuous convolutions.

cull- to pick from a large number of options or to amass from much data.  The current text of Beowulf was culled from many different fragments of texts about the epic hero.

disparate- immensely different.  In economics, they use disparate objects to explain production possibility curves, such as robots and pizzas.

dogmatic- laying down principles which are not proven true.  The dogmatic theologist lectured about many unproven principles like they were true.

licentious- promiscuous, or unprincipled sexually.  In the times of Jane Austen, Lydia from pride and Prejudice would have been viewed as licentious.

mete- to allot punishment.  Many countries say that they care for their citizens, yet they radially mete out to their people.

noxious- harmful or poisonous.  Many noxious fumes come out of industrial buildings.

polemic- strongly speaking out against something.  The polemic worker spoke out against his low wages.

populous- having a large population.  In ecosystems, producers are the most populous part of the food web.

probity- having moral principles, decency.  Pretentious people often put up a facade of probity.

repartee- conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty remarks.  When I got to boys state, I impressed one of the counselors by starting a repartee with him.

supervene- occur later than a specified event or action, often changing plans.  The collapse of the twin towers supervened much of what happened on september 11th, 2009.

truncate- to shorten something by cutting of the top or end.  In elementary school, kids liked to make shorts by truncating old jeans. 

unimpeachable- not to be doubted or questioned. The views of many experts are often viewed as unimpeachable.