#68 promulgate ~ provident

Question 1

promulgate

/ˈprɒməlˌgeɪt, proʊˈmʌlgeɪt/

Answer 1

v. to proclaim; to publicly or formally declare sth.
- The principal promulgated a new dress code over the loudspeaker system: Red, green, yellow, and blue were the only permissible artificial hair colors.

Question 2

propensity

/prəˈpɛnsɪti/

Answer 2

n. a natural inclination or tendency; a predilection
- Jessie has a propensity for saying stupid things: Every time she opens her mouth, sth. stupid comes out.
- Edwin’s propensity to sit around all day doing nothing came into conflict with his mother’s propensity to kick him out of the house.

Question 3

propitious

/prəˈpɪʃəs/

Answer 3

adj. marked by favorable signs or conditions
- Rush hour is not a propitious time to drive into the city.
- The early negotiations between the union and the company had been so propitious that no one was surprised when a new contract was announced well before the strike deadline.

Question 4

proponent

/prəˈpoʊnənt/

Answer 4

n. an advocate; a supporter of a position
Proponent and opponent are antonyms.
- The proponents of a tax increase will probably not be re-elected next fall.

Question 5

proprietary

/prəˈpraɪɪˌtɛri/

Answer 5

adj. characteristic of an owner of property; constituting property
To take a proprietary interest in sth. is to act as though you own it.
- George felt proprietary about the chocolate-cookie recipe; he had invented it himself.
- The company’s design for musical toilet paper is proprietary; the company owns it, and outsiders can’t look at it for nothing.

Question 6

proprietor

/prəˈpraɪɪtər/

Answer 6

n. an owner

Question 7

propriety

/prəˈpraɪɪti/

Answer 7

n. properness; good manners
- The old lady viewed the little girl’s failure to curtsy as a fragrant breach of propriety. She did not approve of or countenance such improprieties.
- Propriety prevented the young man from trashing the town in celebration of his unexpected acceptance by the college of his choice.
Propriety derives from proper, not property, and should not be confused with proprietary.

Question 8

prosaic

/proʊˈzeɪɪk/

Answer 8

adj. dull, unimaginative; like prose (as opposed to poetry)
- His description of the battle was so prosaic that it was hard for his listeners to believe that any of the soldiers had even been wounded, much less blown to smithereens.
- The little boy’s ambitions were all prosaic: He said he wanted to be an accountant, an auditor, or a claims adjuster.

Question 9

proscribe

/proʊˈskraɪb/

Answer 9

v. to outlaw; to prohibit
- Spitting on the sidewalk and shooting at road signs were both proscribed activities under the new administrations.
- The young doctor proscribed smoking in the waiting room of his office.
The act of proscribing is proscription; an individual act of proscribing is also a proscription.

Question 10

proselytize

/ˈprɒsəlɪˌtaɪz/

Answer 10

v. to convert (someone) from one religion or doctrine to another; to recruit converts to a religion or doctrine
- The former Methodist had been proselytized by a Lutheran deacon.
- The airport terminal was filled with proselytizers from a dozen different sects, cults, and religions. They were attempting to proselytize the passengers walking through the terminal.

Question 11

protagonist

/proʊˈtægənɪst/

Answer 11

n. the leading character in a novel, play, or other work; a leader or champion
- Martin Luther King, Jr., was a protagonist in the long and continuing struggle for racial equality.
- The protagonist of the movie was an eleven-year-old boy who saved his hometown from destruction by eating all the doughnuts hat the mad scientist had been using to fuel his nuclear reactor.

Question 12

antagonist

/ænˈtægənɪst/

Answer 12

n. an opponent; an adversary

- The mad scientist was the boy’s chief antagonist.

Question 13

protract

/proʊˈtrækt, prə-/

Answer 13

v. to prolong
- The trial was protracted that one of the jurors died of old age.
- The commencement speaker promised not to protract his remarks, but then he spoke for two solid hours. It was a protracted speech.

Question 14

provident

/ˈprɒvɪdənt/

Answer 14

adj. preparing for the future; providing for the future; frugal
- We were provident with our limited food supplies, knowing the winter ahead would be long and cold.
- The provident father had long ago set aside money for the college education of each of his children.

Question 15

improvident

/ɪmˈprɒvɪdənt/

Answer 15

adj. failing to provide for the future

- It was improvident of the grasshopper not to store any food for the winter, unlike his acquaintance the provident ant.