Vocabulary List 7b

Yay for expanding our ability to articulate thoughts

agnostic (ag NOS tik) –

O one who believes it is impossible to know whether or not God exists

O Synonyms: unbeliever, doubter, questioner, skeptic (SKEP tik)

agnosticO coined by T.H. Huxley (1825-1895)

from Gk. agnostos "unknown, unknowable," from a- "not" + gnostos "(to be) known"

O Sometimes said to be a reference to Paul's mention of the altar to "the Unknown God," but according to Huxley, it was coined with reference to the early Church movement known as Gnosticism

nepotism (NEP uh tiz um)

O favoritism to relatives in giving jobs and offices

O Synonyms: favoritism, patronage (PAY truh nij, PA truh nij)

nepotismO 1662, nepotismo, (nepote "nephew)O Originally, privileges granted to a pope's

"nephew" which was a euphemism for his natural son.

enigmatic (en ig MAT ik)

O puzzling, mysterious, perplexingO Synonyms: mystifying, baffling,

bewildering, obscure, cryptic (KRIP tik)

enigmaticO From Greek ainigma (riddle)O One of the most famous Greek

riddles is that of the Sphinx:O What walks on four legs in the

morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening.

O If travelers didn’t know, she’d eat them.

blatant (BLAYT unt) O completely obvious, often offensively

so; shamelessO Synonyms: clear, outstanding,

prominent, conspicuous (kon SPIK yoo us)

blatantO blatant beast, coined by Edmund

Spenser in "The Faerie Queen" to describe a thousand-tongued monster representing slander; probably suggested by L. blatire "to babble.“

O It entered general use 1650s, as "noisy in an offensive and vulgar way;" the sense of "obvious, glaringly conspicuous" is from 1889.

nebulous (NEB yuh lus)

O unclear, hazy, indistinctO Synonyms: fuzzy, murky, imprecise,

confused, vague (VAYG)

nebulousO Latin nebulosus "cloudy, misty,

foggy," from nebula

RootsO Viv – to live

O Vivacious, revive O Tact – to touch

O Contact, tactileO Punct – to sting

O puncture

O Grad – stepO Gradual,

graduateO Graph – to write

O Telegraph, graphite