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July 20, 2025, 04:06:42 am

Author Topic: New words - feel free to add :)  (Read 21383 times)  Share 

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literally lauren

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #45 on: March 03, 2014, 08:55:40 pm »
+5
^ lol I love the anti-VCE tone this thread has taken  ;D

idiosyncratic:  something distinctive to an individual, a unique characteristic or trait
Her idiosyncratic passion for Geography was a mystery to her fellow classmates.

ethnocentric: believing one culture/ race to be superior
This text provides an ethnocentric view of American culture.

reductive: limited or simplified, literally 'reduced'
To say this is simply a tale of good versus evil is a reductive view.

dilks

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #46 on: March 04, 2014, 01:41:12 pm »
+2
internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict.
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RazzMeTazz

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #47 on: March 05, 2014, 05:54:58 pm »
+1
Pragmatic - dealing with things sensibly and realistically, in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considers

RazzMeTazz

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #48 on: March 06, 2014, 05:04:10 pm »
+1
Arbitrary - Random, and based on a personal choice rather than a reason or system.

RazzMeTazz

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #49 on: March 06, 2014, 06:33:12 pm »
+1
Palpable - able to be touched or felt

nerdmmb

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #50 on: March 06, 2014, 07:27:32 pm »
0
Illustrious: widely respected and recognised

E.g. Examiners are illustrious for the wealth of knowledge they encompass.

Paulrus

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #51 on: March 08, 2014, 09:11:53 pm »
+3
litotes - understatement used to soften harsher expression (basically acts as a hedging expression) or emphasise something - confirms something by negating its opposite
e.g. "Well, it's not bad..."
opprobrious - scornful or critical
e.g. The writer utilises a largely opprobrious tone.
acquiesce - to accept something reluctantly but without protest
e.g. He was forced to acquiesce to her demands.
catharsis (adjective is cathartic) - purification and purging of emotions, especially fear and pity
e.g. He wasn't sure why, but in that moment seeing her face had a cathartic effect on him.

fun fact, in medicine a cathartic is something that makes you shit faster. so watch out for that i guess  ::)
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brenden

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #52 on: March 08, 2014, 09:27:43 pm »
+1
Duplicity

Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
✌️just do what makes you happy ✌️

JOOMY

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #53 on: March 10, 2014, 12:13:49 am »
+2
veneer - The outlier layer of something.
E.G "The veneer of chocolate on my Kit-Kit was very thin, I should ring up Nestle and complain!"

enfeoffed - Exchange between two or more parties
E.G "Ebeneezer Scrooge was justly enfeoffed through the betterment of society as he changed his ways towards mankind"
"The little daughter’s on the mattress,
Dead. How many have been on it
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl’s been turned into a woman,
A woman turned into a corpse.
It's all come down to simple phrases:
Do not forget! Do not forgive!
Blood for blood! A tooth for a tooth!"

Bronzebottom64

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #54 on: March 10, 2014, 12:23:29 pm »
+1
Juxtaposition - The act of placing side by side, especially for comparison or contrast

eg. A juxtaposition of the two VCE students by VCAA shows that one has a far better ATAR than the other
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ATAR [98.10]

nerdmmb

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #55 on: March 10, 2014, 01:50:28 pm »
0
Malignant: evil in nature

E.g. VCE students dread VCAA's malignant motives.

Rishi97

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #56 on: March 10, 2014, 01:56:57 pm »
+2
Despondent: extremely unhappy and discouraged

The ATAR scores of many students leave them feeling despondent
2014: VCE completed
2015-2017: BSc at Melb Uni

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literally lauren

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #57 on: March 12, 2014, 10:04:27 pm »
+5
bureaucracy: probably belongs in the most often misspelled thread. I still can't get this one right on the first go... too many vowels. Basically means a very complicated "professional" way of doing things. Really useful word for language analysis, as authors often try to portray the government as bureaucratic and thus incompetent.

VCAA bureaucracy is a nightmare. Did you know they now want us to take our shoes off before entering the exam hall??

vicissitude: pronounced vis-is-i-tude. Refers to the 'grey area' between things, ie. the vicissitude between good and evil. Can be an excellent word for analysing characters in a Text Response, as an author will often explore vicissitudes either within one character's psyche, or through juxtaposing two or more different characters.

The vicissitude between these two extremes provides a spectrum of different opinions and interpretations.

last one: psychomachia: 'conflict of the soul.' Very angsty, but again is surprisingly relevant for characters (esp. Shakespeare) experiencing doubt or some complex blend of emotions.

This portrayal of psychomachia gives the audience an insight into the intricacies of the human soul.

boxcat

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #58 on: March 12, 2014, 11:11:53 pm »
+7
Saw this thread, thought it was good.
I often remember words by remembering the little story of where they are from, or from the parts they're made up of. so now to post sth off topic - etymologies!
Here are a few, garnered (from latin granum 'grain', via french) from the dictionary. Feel free to look up others or add your own.

aposiopesis
   apo- is a greek prefix meaning 'from, after'.
   siope is from a greek root (σιγαω) meaning 'to be silent'.
   -sis is from a greek suffix (-σις) making an action noun from a verb.
      so literally 'to fall silent after'.

ameliorate
   amelior is from 'melior', the latin for 'better'.
   -ate is likely from the latin -atus suffix indicating a state from a past action.
      literally 'to make better'.

erudite
   e- is the latin prefix meaning 'out of'.
   rud- is from the latin root rudis, meaning 'rough, wild'.
   -ite is likely the same suffix as in ameliorATE, in disguise.
   In Latin, this became 'erudire', meaning 'to educate', and eruditus, 'educated'.
      literally 'to bring from the wild' -> 'educate' -> 'educated'.
   
anomie
   a- is a greek prefix making a negative.
   nomia is the greek word (νομος) meaning 'law'.
      literally, 'without law'.

iconoclasm
   icon- from the greek root (εικων) meaning 'likeness'.
   -cla- from the greek root (κλαω, κλαν) meaning 'to break'.
   -sm form the greek suffix (-σμος) indicating the result of an action.
      literally, 'having broken images (of gods)'

serendipity
   Horace Walpole made it up!

narcissism
   Narcissus, the mythological young man who, cursed by Nemesis, fell in love with his own reflection.
   -ism likely the same -sm as in iconoclasm.

enkindle
   en- is a prefix which in this case likely indicates an intensifier
   kindle is from a norse root kynda, meaning 'to light'
      literally 'to set alight'

vacuous
   from the latin root vacuus, meaning 'empty'.
   

negligent
   neg- from a Latin prefix meaning 'not'
   ligent from a Latin root legere, meaning 'to gather, pick out'
      literally,   'not picking out'


mollifcation
   molli from latin mollis, 'soft'
   -fic-   from latin facere, 'to make'
   -ation from latin -atio, the result of an action
      literally 'a making soft'

reiterate
   re- from a Latin prefix meaning (here) again, anew
   -iter- from a Latin root iterare, 'to do again'
   -ate is the same suffix from ameliorate
      literally 'to do over again'


butter
   this is a good one.
   from greek bous (βους), 'cow' and tyros (τυρος), 'cheese'
      literally, 'cow cheese'

nerdmmb

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Re: New words - feel free to add :)
« Reply #59 on: March 12, 2014, 11:22:58 pm »
0
Saw this thread, thought it was good.
I often remember words by remembering the little story of where they are from, or from the parts they're made up of. so now to post sth off topic - etymologies!
Here are a few, garnered (from latin granum 'grain', via french) from the dictionary. Feel free to look up others or add your own.

aposiopesis
   apo- is a greek prefix meaning 'from, after'.
   siope is from a greek root (σιγαω) meaning 'to be silent'.
   -sis is from a greek suffix (-σις) making an action noun from a verb.
      so literally 'to fall silent after'.

ameliorate
   amelior is from 'melior', the latin for 'better'.
   -ate is likely from the latin -atus suffix indicating a state from a past action.
      literally 'to make better'.

erudite
   e- is the latin prefix meaning 'out of'.
   rud- is from the latin root rudis, meaning 'rough, wild'.
   -ite is likely the same suffix as in ameliorATE, in disguise.
   In Latin, this became 'erudire', meaning 'to educate', and eruditus, 'educated'.
      literally 'to bring from the wild' -> 'educate' -> 'educated'.
   
anomie
   a- is a greek prefix making a negative.
   nomia is the greek word (νομος) meaning 'law'.
      literally, 'without law'.

iconoclasm
   icon- from the greek root (εικων) meaning 'likeness'.
   -cla- from the greek root (κλαω, κλαν) meaning 'to break'.
   -sm form the greek suffix (-σμος) indicating the result of an action.
      literally, 'having broken images (of gods)'

serendipity
   Horace Walpole made it up!

narcissism
   Narcissus, the mythological young man who, cursed by Nemesis, fell in love with his own reflection.
   -ism likely the same -sm as in iconoclasm.

enkindle
   en- is a prefix which in this case likely indicates an intensifier
   kindle is from a norse root kynda, meaning 'to light'
      literally 'to set alight'

vacuous
   from the latin root vacuus, meaning 'empty'.
   

negligent
   neg- from a Latin prefix meaning 'not'
   ligent from a Latin root legere, meaning 'to gather, pick out'
      literally,   'not picking out'


mollifcation
   molli from latin mollis, 'soft'
   -fic-   from latin facere, 'to make'
   -ation from latin -atio, the result of an action
      literally 'a making soft'

reiterate
   re- from a Latin prefix meaning (here) again, anew
   -iter- from a Latin root iterare, 'to do again'
   -ate is the same suffix from ameliorate
      literally 'to do over again'


butter
   this is a good one.
   from greek bous (βους), 'cow' and tyros (τυρος), 'cheese'
      literally, 'cow cheese'

Wow! If only I could like your post more than once! It's very helpful! Thanks for that boxcat! :D