Fall Vocab #7

Aberration - (noun) an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Ad Hoc- (adverb) for the special purpose or end presently under consideration

Bane - (noun) something causes misery or death

Bathos - (noun) triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos

Cantankerous - (adj.) having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate

Casuistry - (noun) moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral

Dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
 

De Facto - (noun) in fact; in reality
 

Depredation - (noun) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive action
 

Empathy - (noun) understanding and entering into another's feelings
 

Harbinger - (noun) an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage

Hedonism - (noun) an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good; the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle
 

Lackluster - (adj.) lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
 

Malcontent - (adj.) discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
 

Mellifluous - (adj.) pleasing to the ear

Nepotism - noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
 

Pander - (noun) someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to
 

Peccadillo - (noun) a petty misdeed
 

Piece de Resistance - (noun) the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
 

Remand - (noun) the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial (or the continuation of the trial); verb refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision; lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
 

Syndrome - (noun) a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease