Advanced Vocabulary 7
1. CONTRITE: Apologetic, begging forgiveness
- The accused spoke with the judge in a contrite manner.
- He started speaking in a contrite tone as soon as he was overpowered.
- After being caught stealing he became contrite.
- She was contrite after realizing her mistake.
- When we are contrite we become apologetic as if we are begging forgiveness.
2. PERSPICACIOUS: Having insight, astute
- It was perspicacious of him to keep himself away from the new political party.
- The new story offers quite a few facts to the perspicuous reporter.
- Perspicacious people understand situations better than others.
- The perspicacious leader understood the problems that were going to arise in the future much ahead of time.
- I am not so perspicacious. How will I know about your problem if you won’t tell me.
3. SUBLIME: Supreme, perfect
- These chairs are of sublime quality.
- Our work should not be mediocre but sublime.
- We should invest in sublime weapons to protect our country.
- Buddha is a sublime example of minimalism in life.
- Sublime material is used to make supreme products and these products last longer.
4. SUPERFICIAL: On the surface, lacking depth
- His injuries turned out to be superficial.
- He sounds so phony because of his superficial smile.
- Her anger is superficial I know that she understands my problems.
- The disagreement politicians show in public is superficial. In private, they have a different agenda.
- Superficial things are just for show, they are not real.
5. WILY: Tricky, clever, cunning
- The wily magician astonished everyone with his tricks.
- There is a conviction in people’s minds that only wily people can become rich.
- He is a wily batsman and he can play with a bowlers mind.
- Fox is a wily animal.
- I was suppose to get the next promotion however the wily secretary beat me to it.
6. ZENITH: Highest point, peak
- The profitability of our company reached its zenith in 1996.
- If you want to reach the zenith of personal productivity, you need to learn to manage your time well.
- When you are at the zenith of your career, there is no place to go but down.
- He was at the zenith of his popularity in 1960.
- Mount everest is the zenith of the world.
7. TRANSIENT: Fleeting, transitory
- Transient people are usually moving from one place to another.
- Most people go for transient benefits at the expense of long term goals.
- I am experiencing transient pain in my stomach, it comes and goes.
- Difficult times are only transient and they should not affect your experience of life as a whole negatively.
- Transient things don’t stay for long, they are temporary.
8. ZEAL: Enthusiasm, zest
- I saw a seal perform with zeal at seaworld.
- I admire the zeal with which she works. She is always so excited.
- When you feel the zeal even the most difficult things give you pleasure.
- In his zeal to complete the task, he forgot to take care of his health.
- Nelson Mandela had the zeal to see a free South-Africa.
9. TERSE: Short, to the point, succinct
- My enquiries only get a terse reply from the government.
- Kindly be terse with me over the phone. I don’t have the time for gossip.
- We should not be terse with children, especially when they ask a question.
- Explain to me why you did not finish the project on time and please be terse.
10. TANGIBLE: Able to be touched, solid
- A tangerine is tangible whereas a dream is intangible.
- Our courts only consider tangible evidence.
- I don’t want hopes but tangible results.
- At the time of death his only tangible assets were the clothes he was wearing.
- You can only buy tangible products with money and not knowledge. For knowledge you have to study.