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.