These are the defintions to the vocab list:
Abortive: failing to produce the intended
result
Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
Contumelious: scornful and
insulting behavior
Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative
source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or
principle
Ensconce: establish or settle
Iconoclastic: characterized by
attack on established beliefs or institutions
In medias res: a narrative
that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
Maladroit:
ineffective or bungling; clumsy
Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully
sentimental, often through drunkenness
Modulate: exert a modifying or
controlling influence on
Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a
pompously or overly solemn manner
Prescience: the power to foresee the
future
Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for
something
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not
run-down
Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an
occasion of wild revelry
Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which
something is judged or recognized
Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or
distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
Vitiate: spoil or
impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity
of.
Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
