Historical Power Words

1. Historical Power Words 1. Accede. Verb. To express approval; agree with. Use: Instead of agree Historical Example: �It was the intention of Council of Trent to get Catholics to once again accede to the dictates of Rome as a reaction against the Protestant Reformation.�

2. Historical Power Words 2. Belabor. Verb. To insist repeatedly; to harp on something Use: Instead of repeat; insist Historical Example: �There is a fine line between emphasizing a matter of national policy and belaboring the issue.�

3. Historical Power Words 3. Circumvent. Verb. To go around; to avoid; to find an alternate way Use: Instead of avoid; go around Historical Example: �The most effective way for a monarch to circumvent the power of a legislative body is to use military power.�

4. Historical Power Words 4. Deleterious. Adjective. Harmful; destructive. Use: Instead of harmful Historical Example: �The deleterious effects of the meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear reactor in 1986 are felt in many areas of Russia today.�

5. Historical Power Words 5. Egregious.Adjective. Extremely bad; the most severe and harmful example Use: Instead of Extremely bad (example) Historical Example: �The wholesale elimination of the indigenous peoples of Tasmania by the British is one of the most egregious examples of the evils of imperialism.�

6. Historical Power Words 6. Flaunt. Verb. To show off Use: Instead of show off Historical Example: �Aristocrats would never imagine that their lavish clothing was flaunted in the face of the poor.�

7. Historical Power Words 7. Gradation. Noun. The measurement of regular degrees or stages of, a way to quantify differences in power Use: Instead of measuring power Historical Example: �Peter the Great attempted to solidify the gradations of the powers of the nobility with his Table of Ranks.�

8. Historical Power Words 8. Heathen. Noun. A pagan; a non-believer; uncivilized; irreligious Use: Instead of pagan; uncivilized Historical Example: �To label the denizens of Africa and Asia as heathens because they worshipped differently than the established Christian faiths is actually irreligious in and of itself.�

9. Historical Power Words 9. Illusory. Adjective. Unreal; deceptive Use: Instead of unreal Historical Example: �Once the power of a monarch is discovered to be illusory, it becomes easier to challenge them.�

10. Historical Power Words 10. Juxtapose. Verb. To place side by side as a means of comparison. Use: Instead of to place side by side. Historical Example: �On of the most effective ways of answering a DBQ is to juxtapose documents and analyze their similarities or differences.�

11. Historical Power Words 11. Lampoon. Verb. To attack with satire; to mock harshly Use: Instead of satirize; make fun of Historical Example: �A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift brutally lampoons societies indifference to the proliferation of the working poor in England.�

12. Historical Power Words 12. Magnanimous. Adjective. Generous; noble in spirit Use: Instead of generous Historical Example: �An Enlightened Monarch is, ideally, a magnanimous individual who truly has the welfare of his or her people at heart.�

13. Historical Power Words 13. Nihilism. Noun. A belief that all traditional values are meaningless Use: Instead of �nothing! Historical Example: �In Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons (1862) he used "nihilism" to describe the crude scientism espoused by his character Bazarov who preaches a creed of total negation.�

14. Historical Power Words 14. Officious. Adjective. Too helpful; meddlesome Use: Instead of meddlesome Historical Example: �A error made commonly by leaders is to mistake an officious subordinate for a concerned one.�

15. Historical Power Words 15. Pall. Noun. A darkness that envelopes a place or person; to obscure Use: Instead of darkness or sadness Historical Example: �After WWI there appeared to be a pall that fell over Europe, and made many artists truly question the nature of existence itself.�

16. Historical Power Words 16. Quell. Verb.To crush or subdue. Use: Instead of crush or subdue Historical Example: �The Fronde (1653) was finally quelled by forces loyal to Louis XIV.�

17. Historical Power Words 17. Raze. Verb. To tear down; demolish Use: Instead of tear down Historical Example: �It is a verbal irony that to raze a city could sound the same as to raise a city.�

18. Historical Power Words 18. Scrupulous. Adjective. Conscientious and exact; painstaking Use: Instead of conscientious. Historical Example: �Finding a leader who is truly scrupulous is one of the rare events or instances in historical study.�

19. Historical Power Words 19. Tangible. Adjective. Possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete Use: Instead of real; discernable Historical Example: �Many still dismiss Darwin�s theory of evolution because of the lack of tangible evidence of the so-called missing link.�

20. Historical Power Words 20. Unequivocal. Adjective. Admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding; clear and unambiguous; no question Use: Instead of clear or absolute Historical Example: �There is an abundance of primary source material that unequivocally points to the United States role in training freedom fighters in Afghanistan who would later become Al-Queda.�

21. Historical Power Words 21. Vaunted. Adjective. Boasted about; bragged about Use: Instead of bragged about; the best Historical Example: �Due to the militarism of Bismarck, the Prussian Army became the most vaunted in all of Europe in the late 19th century.�

22. Historical Power Words 22. Wizened. Adjective. Withered; shriveled; wrinkled. Use: Instead of worn out; aged Historical Example: �The Ottoman Empire was known as the �Sick Man� of Europe by the early 1900�s; it was a wizened shell of its former self.�

23. Historical Power Words 23. Abnegate. Verb. To renounce; to deny Use: Instead of deny Historical Example: �The intention of the Spanish Inquisition was to punish non-believers (Jews and Muslims) and get those who were �willing� to abnegate their heretical beliefs.�

24. Historical Power Words 24. Benign. Adjective. Kindly; gentle; harmless Use: Instead of harmless Historical Example: �Inaction in the face of aggression may seem benign to those who ascribe to it, but it almost always has dire consequences.�

25. Historical Power Words 25. Castigate. Verb. To punish; chastise; criticize severely. Use: Instead of punish verbally; criticize Historical Example: �At the Diet of Worms (1521) Martin Luther was castigated by the tribunal for failing to renounce his criticisms of the Catholic Church. He held fast.�

26. Historical Power Words 1. Use: Instead of Historical Example: �