Word of the day

1. Word of the day (WOD)

2. Parts of speech • “Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections.  • It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. 

4. Noun: A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action. • Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival • Verb: A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something). • Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want • Adjective: An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun. • Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important • Adverb: An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where something happened. • Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere

5. Abasement (n.) • A lowering of rank or position or office. • Verb: Abase • Adjective: Abasing • Adverb:

6. Poignant (adj.) • Keen or strong in mental appeal; • Keenly distressing to the emotions • Adverb: poignantly • Sentence Frames: • Adj: The presentation was _____________ and had Jen thinking long after. • Adv: They discussed the presentation ________________ and deeply.

7. Wizened (adj.)“Wih-zuh-nd” • Withered; shriveled • Verb: wizen • Sentence Frames: • Adj. – The man, with his wrinkled skin and long beard, appeared _________ and old. • V. – Staying in the sun with no sunscreen will _________ your face and age you ten years.

8. Beleaguered (v.)“Bee-Lee-Gurd” • To surround or beset, as with troubles (present tense of the verb – beleaguer) • Noun: beleaguerer • Sentence Frames: • Jacob, whose troubles _______________ him, discovered his hair was starting to fall out from stress. • Chelsea’s grandmother’s illness was a supreme______________ in her family’s lives. Label the parts of speech for each blank space.

9. Marred (v.)“mah-rd” • To damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, or useful. (Present tense: mar) • Adjective: marred • Sentence frames: • The billboard ___________ the view of the park. • Two-Face’s complexion is extremely ____________. Label the parts of speech for each blank space

10. Vigil (n.) • A watch or a period of watchful attention maintained at night or at other times. • Sentence Frames: • The nurse kept her __________ at the bedside of the dying man.

11. Conceivably (adv.) • Capable of beginning, originating, or founding (something) in a particular way; • forming a notion or idea of (something) • Noun: conceiver Label the parts of • Verb: conceive speech for each • Adjective: conceivable space of each • sentence • Sentence Frames: • ______________, she could have performed the tight rope walk, but she didn’t feel like it. • Since Julia was the ______________, the baby would be hers, despite being carried in a surrogate. • They had ______________ a baby, and needed to make an appointment with the doctor for a wellness exam. • The idea was _____________, yet the logistics of carrying it out still confused some people.

12. Persecute (v.)“pur-si-kyoot” • To pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religion, race, or beliefs • Noun: persecution • Adjective: persecutive • Adverb: persecutingly • Sentence Frames: • It is unfortunate that some still ____________ certain groups because of their race or religion. • The ____________ of the Jews in WW2 is one of the most infamous in history. • The Neo-Nazis are an incredibly ______________ group that believe in white supremacy. • They ______________ excluded Amelia from the quincenera because they believed that she would not enjoy it because she wasn’t Hispanic.

13. Rouse (v.)“rowz” • To bring out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, apathy, etc. Sentence: Write your own. Be sure to use the word correctly as a verb, and still show you understand its meaning.

14. Brandished (v.)“Bran-disht” • To shake or wave, as a weapon; flourish • Sentence: • Write your own. Be sure to use the word correctly as a verb (whatever tense, be it past (brandished), present (brandish), progressive (brandishing), etc.) and to show you understand its meaning.

15. Xenophobia (n.)“zee-nuh-foh-bee-uh” • An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange. • Adjective: xenophobic • Sentence Frames: • The United States displayed a _________________ of the Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. • Upon seeing a camel spider for the first time, James exhibited some _____________ behavior because he was unfamiliar with the gigantic creature.

16. Resilience (n.)“ri-zil-yehns” • An ability to recover from or adjust easily to change or misfortune. • Adjective: resilient • Sentence Frames: • After (describe misfortune), Jessica displayed ___________ when she (describe recovery). • Jarrett is remarkably _____________ because (describe reasons).

17. Vituperation (n.)“vih-too-puh-ray-shun” • Verbal abuse or lengthy harsh criticism • Verb: vituperate • Adjective: vituperative • Adverb: vituperatively • Sentence Frames: • In her ________________, she told me what a horrible performance I’d had at the convention. • Because my teacher was (describe behavior), I learned quickly how _____________ he was. • After an hour of (describe behavior), I discovered how ____________ he could criticize.

18. Compulsion (n.)“kuhm-puhl-shuh-n” • The act of securing a course of action by force or drive; forcing to submission. • Verb: compel • Adjective: compulsive • Adverb: compulsively • Sentence Frames: • The magician’s ____________ was so strong, she quacked like a duck for two days! • Something ______________ me to stay home from the party that night, and when I heard there had been drugs there, I’m glad I did. • He acted very ______________ upon learning of (describe what happened to make him act that way).