Vocabulary from "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich

• Accolade – a ceremonial tap on the shoulder with the flat of a sword, given to mark the conferring of knighthood; praise approval

• Agape – gaping, open-mouthed

• Alight – to descend and settle

• Alma mater - a school, college, or university at which one has studied and, usually, from which one has graduated

• Altruism – unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others

• Aphasic – loss of speech

• Aplomb – dignity and confidence

• Aqueous – of water; watery

• Baleful – menacing; destructive

• Cadre – a group forming a nucleus of informed personnel in industry or the armed forces that can be increased when necessary

• Careen – to tilt or keel over to one side; to swerve

• Contemptuous – manifesting, feeling, or expressing the feeling or condition of despising something

• Conundrum – a hard question; a riddle

• Culled – picked; selected; picked out and killed

• Emissary – a person sent to conduct negotiations

• Encomium – high praise given in speech or writing

• Flippant – not showing proper seriousness

• Gentrification – a movement of middle-class families into an urban area causing property values to increase and having the secondary effect of driving out poorer families

• Glossolalia – the power of speaking in unknown languages as claimed by religious groups; also called the “gift of tongues”

• Improvidence – not providing for future needs; wasting one’s resources

• Indignation – anger aroused by something thought to be unjust or wicked

• Individualism - the moral stance, political philosophy, or social outlook that stresses independence and self-reliance. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires, while opposing most external interference upon one's choices, whether by society, the state, or any other group or institution.

• Ineluctably – not to be avoided or escaped; inevitable

• Juggernaut – a large overwhelming object or institution

• Lavish – giving or producing something in large quantities; plentiful

• Mephitic – smelling unpleasant

• Milieu – environment; surroundings

• Offal – the parts that come off as waste from a butchered animal

• Panacea – a remedy for all kinds of diseases or troubles

• Penury – extreme poverty

• Permutation – a variation of the order of set things

• Pidgin – a simplified form of English or another language, containing elements of the local language and used for communication between people speaking different languages

• Posterity – future generations; a person’s descendants

• Postprandial – after a meal, especially dinner

• Prevaricate – to stray from or evade the truth; lie

• Propagation – to breed or reproduce from parent stock; to spread; to transmit

• Putative – reputed; supposed; alleged

• Recalcitrant – disobedient, resisting authority or discipline

• Servile – suitable for a servant; menial

• Skank – (slang term) an offensive term for a girl or woman who is regarded as unpleasant-looking and sexually promiscuous

• Slated – to make arrangements for

• Solipsism – the philosophical theory that the self is only knowable

• Squalid – dirty and unpleasant, especially because of neglect

• Stingy – spending or giving or given grudgingly or in small amounts

• Sumptuary law – laws which attempt to regulate habits of consumption; laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures in the matter of apparel, food, furniture, etc.

• Supposition – supposing; what is being supposed

• Unctuous – characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor; excessively smooth or smug

• Unencumbered – not burdened with cares or responsibilities

• Vehemence – showing strong feeling

Vocabulary words taken from “The Social Animal” by David Brooks

• Idiosyncrasy – a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or a group. A psychological or temperamental peculiarity.
• Pleistocene - of, belonging to, or designating the geologic time, rock series, and sedimentary deposits of the earlier of the two epochs of the Quaternary Period, characterized by the alternate appearance and recession of northern glaciations and the appearance of the progenitors of human beings.
• Traipse – to walk or tramp about
• Rapt - Deeply engrossed or absorbed. 
• Ensconced - To settle securely or snugly; to cover or shelter
• Suffused - To overspread with or as with a liquid, color etc.
• Pantomime - The art or technique of conveying emotions, actions, feelings etc. by gestures without speech; action without words as a means of expression
• Paracosm - a detailed imaginary world involving humans and/or animals, or perhaps, even fantasy or alien creatures. Often having its own geography, history, and language, it is an experience that is developed during childhood and continues over a long period: months or even years.
• Arduous - demanding great effort or labor; difficult
• Incontrovertible - impossible to dispute; unquestionable
• Overwrought - excessively nervous or excited; agitated
• Enamored - inspired with love; captivated
• Kvell - to be extraordinarily proud
• Dilettante - a dabbler in an art or field of knowledge. A lover of fine arts; a connoisseur
• Impasse - a road or passage having no exit. A situation that is so difficult no progress can be made
• Cadence - balanced, rhythmic flow
• Deleterious - having a harmful effect; injurious
• Jeremiad - a literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom
• Diction - choice and use of words in speech or writing