Testing Vocabulary Words List 1 By: Eli Miksicek, Bella Goodsir, and eric reddick

Indifferent Not caring one way or the other; lacking a preference Since I was indifferent about which movie we would see, my brother chose the one he wanted to see. When it comes to big football games, I don’t know how any Spartan fan could be indifferent about who wins.

Apathy Lack of emotion or interest The speaker got quite nervous after seeing nothing but apathetic faces staring back at her. Some people have nothing but apathy when it comes to math.

Obscure Unclear; hard to understand The directions on the chemistry lab where very obscure. We tried to understand the hidden meaning in the text, but it was far too obscure for us.

ambiguous Unclear in meaning The teacher was very ambiguous in his directions. That ambiguity persisted even after the teacher explained it again.

Impartial Unbiased; neutral When you stand before a judge, you want her to be impartial. When my two friends where arguing, I acted as an impartial mediator.

objective Without bias Although news programs are supposed to be objective, several are blatantly not. Since the judge was objective and not swayed by the defendant’s sob story, he received the punishment he deserved.

revere To worship; to honor In almost all religions people revere one or more deities. Most people have reverence for rights activist like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi.

discrimination To differentiate I find it easy to discriminate between different types of dogs at a pet store. The word “discrimination” has a negative connotation for many of us, but its denotative meaning does not include anything about race or gender.

denounce To speak against During the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. many people commonly denounced racial injustice. Some experts denounce video games stating that they are bad for people.

innovate To be creative Many inventors are innovative and bring new products to the market on a regular basis. Steve Jobs’ innovation changed the world we live in.

Subtle Not obvious During a meeting at work, my friend subtlety expressed his boredom by rolling his eyes. Eli is not one to be subtle; he liked Bella so he let her know by buying her a bouquet of flowers .

Relevant Pertinent The teacher got so off track that we began discussing something that had no relevance to our original discussion. When writing a paper it is important that your ideas stay relevant and don’t wander off topic.

cANDID Honest, frank John was quite candid when he told me I’m horrible at writing. Henry’s candid, straight-forward attitude is what I like the most about him.

dISCERN To distinguish one thing from another At a distance its hard to discern the different letters in an eye exam. During warfare it’s crucial to use your powers of discernment to see who’s friend or foe.

hYPOCRITICAL Saying one thing, but doing the other John, being so hypocritical, bashed me for staying up late while he went and stayed up the entire night. Most people face a form of hypocrisy at one point in their lives.

dISDAIN Contempt; intense dislike As I took the bone away from the dog, it growled with disdain. David was quite disdainful after I broke his favorite video game.

aBSTRACT Theoretical; to lack substance Several masterful works of art are abstract and it’s hard to understand anything but their beauty. My English teacher tells me that good writing moves back and forth between abstract and concrete.

tEMPER To soften, to moderate The blacksmith tempered the steel to change its shape into a shovel. I try to remember to count to ten when I get angry so that I am able to temper any outburst I might be inclined to have.

eNIGMA Mystery The enigmatic clues led the detective no where. She continues to be an enigma, sharing little about her personal life.

Inevitable Unavoidable; bound to happen No matter where my mom hides the cookie jar, it’s inevitable that I will find a way to get to it. Growing up is an inevitable part of life.