Vocabulary Set 5 - A

Thursday, August 17, 2006

1. acrid
   adj. sharp; bitterly pungent
   The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.
   


2. acrimonious
   adj. stinging, caustic
   His tendency to utter acrimonious remarks alienated his audience.
   


3. actuarial
   adj. calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics
   According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.
   


4. actuate
   v. [actuated; actuated; actuating] motivate
   I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.
   


5. acuity
   n. sharpness
   In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.
   


6. acumen
   n. mental keenness
   His business acumen helped him to succeed where others had failed.
   


7. adage
   v. wise saying; proverb
   There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.
   


8. adamant
   adj. hard, inflexible
   He was adamant in his determination to punish the wrongdoer.
   


9. addendum
   n. [addenda, addendums] addition; appendix to book
   Jane's editor approved her new comparative literature text but thought it would be even better with an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism.

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