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Vocabulary Energizers
Words of the Day
Words added to Lesson 9
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Pandemonium
Bowdlerize
Pander
Pandemonium
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Utter confusion or wild uproar
Synonyms: disorder, chaos, noisy
confusion, tumult
Coined by John Milton in Paradise Lost
Bowdlerize
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Remove or change parts considered vulgar
or immoral
Synonyms: delete, censor, expurgate
Term named after a prudish 19th Century
censor
Pander
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Play up to another’s desires and
weaknesses
Synonyms: indulge, gratify, cater
Named after Geoffrey Chaucer’s character
Pandarus from Troilus and Criseyde
Words added to Lesson 10
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Quixotic
Cynical
Tantalize
Quixotic
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Idealistic but not practical
Synonyms: romantic, visionary, fanciful
Term named after Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Cynical
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Doubting the goodness and sincerity of
human motives
Synonyms: distrustful, sneering, derisive
From the ancient Greek philosopher
Antisthenes, pupil of Socrates
Tantalize
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Arouse hopes that will be frustrated
Tempt, tease, entice
Coined from Tantalus’ divine punishment
in Greek mythology
Words added to Lesson 11
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Labyrinth
Laconic
Maudlin
Lethargic
Labyrinth
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Complex, intricate network of passages,
complicated situation; maze
Synonyms: Maze, tangle, conundrum
Created by Daedalus to confine the
minotaur
Laconic
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brief, concise
Synonyms: brief, concise, terse
Refers to the Spartans (Laconians)
Maudlin
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Excessively sentimental
Synonyms: mushy, tear-jerkin, mawkish
Coined in reference to English depictions
of Mary Magdalene
Lethargic
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Lazy, sluggish, lacking energy
Synonyms: drowsy, torpid
Coined from the river Lethe from Greek
mythology