Difficult Words: Abstruse, Abysmal, Accolade, Accost, Acerbic and Acquiesce

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Difficult Words :
Abstruse, Abysmal, Accolade, Accost, Acerbic and Acquiesce

This is a list of Difficult Words: Abstruse, Abysmal, Accolade, Accost, Acerbic and Acquiesce

Abstruse (ab STROOS) adj: hard to understand

� The professor's article, on the meaning of meaning, was very abstruse. Michael couldn't even pronounce the words in it.

� Nuclear physics is a subject that is too abstruse for most people.

Abysmal (un BIZ mul) adj: extremely hopeless or wretched, bottomless

� An abyss is bottomless pit or something so deep that it seems bottomless.

� Abysmal despair is despair so deep that no hope seems possible.

� The nation's debt crisis was abysmal. There seemed to be no possible solution to it.

� Abysmal is often used somewhat sloppily to mean very bad. You might hear a losing baseball team's performance referred to as abysmal. This isn't strictly correct, but many people do it.

Accolade (AK uh LADE) n: an award, an honor

� This word is generally used in the plural.

� The first break-dancing troupe to perform in Carnegie Hall received the accolades of the critics as well as of the fans.

Accost (uh KAWST) v: to approach and speak to someone

� Amanda Karate chopped the stranger who accosted her in the street and was embarrassed to find he was an old blind man.

Acerbic (uh SUR bik) adj: bitter, sour; severe

� Barry sat silently as our teacher read aloud her acerbic comments on his paper.

� Acerb and acerbic are synonyms. Acerbity is bitterness.

Acquiesce (AK wee ES) v: to comply passively, to accept, to assent, to agree

� To acquiesce is to do something without objection to do it quietly. As the similarity of their spellings indicates, the words acquiesce and quiet are closely related. They are both based on Latin words meaning "rest" or "be quiet."

� The pirates asked Pete to walk the plank. He took one look at their swords and then acquiesced.

� Acquiesce is sometimes used sloppily as a simple synonym for agree in situations where it isn't really appropriate. For example, it isn't really possible to acquiesce noisily, enthusiastically, or eagerly. Don't forget the quiet in the middle.

� To acquiesce is to exhibit acquiescence is to exhibit acquiescence.

Difficult Words Index

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Difficult Words : Abstruse, Abysmal, Accolade, Accost, Acerbic and Acquiesce

Difficult Words Index

Difficult Words :
Abstruse, Abysmal, Accolade, Accost, Acerbic and Acquiesce