Sunshine Vocab Day 4

Question 1

litigious

ex: I try to appease my customers whenever they are angry, because I know how litigious our society is

Answer 1

Def: [adj] unreasonably prone to suing as means of settling disputes
Form: litigiousness = tendency to settle disputes with lawsuits

Question 2

prevalent

ex: Be careful-poison ivy is prevalent in this forest

Answer 2

pre-(before) + valere(to have power)
Def: [adj] abundant and widespread in a particular area
Forms: prevail = to be victorious
Synonyms: prolific, profuse, copious
Root Family: [pre-][val]

Question 3

propensity

ex: warner has a propensity for needless exaggeration

Answer 3

pro-(forward) + pendere(to hang)
Def: [n] a natural inclination to behave a certain way
Root Family: [pro-][pond, pend, pens]

Question 4

rebut

ex: the candidate spent as much time rebutting her opponent’s accusations as she did describing her own

Answer 4

Def: [v] to respond to an accusation by asserting or proving it false; refute
Form: rebuttal = an act of refutation
Synonyms: repudiate, discredit

Question 5

recalcitrant
ex: the entire kindergarten class was finger-painting, save for one recalcitrant toddler

Answer 5

re-(back) + calcitrare(to kick with the heel)
Def: [adj] stubbornly uncooperative
Synonyms: obdurate, staunch, obstinate, intransigent, steadfast
Root Family: [re-]

Question 6

specious

ex: Beck’s species theories are informed more by hysteria than by reason

Answer 6

Def: [adj] seemingly plausible, but actually incorrect
Synonyms: conjecture, surmise, postulation
Root Family: [spec]

Question 7

strident
ex: The political operatives were instructed to take very strident tones at the town hall meeting, to make it seem as if their views were widely held

Answer 7

Def: [adj] annoyingly loud or harsh
Form: stridency = harshness in presenting one’s views
Synonyms: vociferous

Question 8

tenuous

ex: the link between lowering taxes and stimulating business is more tenuous than most people think

Answer 8

tenuare(to make thin, to stretch)
Def: [adj] flimsy; very weak or slight
Root Family: [ten]

Question 9

tirade

ex: His tirades against communism are well known

Answer 9

Def: [v] a long, angry, and critical speech
Synonyms: harangue, rant, diatribe

Question 10

viable

ex: We did not want to invest in a company that had not yet shown that it was viable

Answer 10

vivere(to live)
Def: [adj] capable of working successfully
Synonyms: feasible
Root Family: [viv,vita]