VOCABULARY LIST 3

• Apostate:  a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc. (can be used as an adjective)
• The young man converted to the religion of Islam, and now, he is considered to be the shunned apostate of his old, Catholic church.
• Effusive:  unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve;  pouring out; overflowing; excessively emotional.
• The author, Jane Austen, characterized Lydia Bennet as an effusive child who ran wildly around with her emotions.
• Impasse:  a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.
• The henchmen within the building seemed to have reached an impasse when the police teams had blocked every exit.
• Euphoria:  a state of intense happiness and self-confidence.
• She was filled with euphoria as she stepped onto the stage to claim her award.
• Lugubrious:  mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.
• After being denied his toy for the last time, the little boy sobbed in the most lugubrious manner for the rest of the hour.
• Bravado:  a pretentious, swaggering display of courage.
• The baseball player trotted up to bat with such bravado that even his fans almost wanted him to strike out in order to learn humility.
• Consensus:  majority of opinion; general agreement or concord.
• The judges chatted among themselves until they had reached a consensus on who the finalist should be. 
• Dichotomy:  division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
• Long ago in the United States, the dichotomy of our governmental system ultimately created the Republican and the Democratic parties.
• Constrict:  to draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink; compress; to slow or stop the natural course or development of.
• The boa snake constricted its prey by wrapping its body around it and cutting off its blood-circulation.
• Gothic:  of or pertaining to the architecture, music, and arts of the Goths.  This style was produced between the 13th and 15th centuries, especially in northern Europe.  Architecture is known for its stonework and flying buttresses.  Arts are known for their tendencies toward realism and interest in detail.
• The grand cathedral in Europe exhibits Gothic architecture due to its numerous flying buttresses and fine details within the stonework.
• Punctilio:  strict attention to minute points of etiquette or formality.
• A follower of Catholicism must show their utmost punctilio when in the presence of the Pope. 
• Metamorphosis:  a complete change of form, structure, or substance.
• Caterpillars complete their life cycle as butterflies through the process of metamorphosis.
• Raconteur:  a person skilled in telling stories.
• The elder of the village was known to be quite the raconteur who could recite any story from memory and relate his stories to life experiences.
• Sine qua non:  an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential.
• Milk is a sine qua non when eating cereal.
• Quixotic:  extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
• In romantic films, one of the characters always follows some unpredictable, quixotic path with his significant other.
• Vendetta:  any prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry, contention, or the like.
• In the movie, Taken, the main character had a vendetta against the men who kidnapped his daughter, and he did everything in his power to find and kill them.
• Non sequitur:  a statement containing an illogical conclusion.
• The non sequitur is to assume that the baby spilled milk on the floor even though he was drinking apple juice.
• Mystique:  an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit.
• The mystique of the magician's performance amazed the audience.
• Quagmire:  a situation from which extrication (freeing oneself) is very difficult.
• After graduating with their degrees, college students tend to find themselves within the financial quagmire of paying off student loans.
• Parlous:  perilous; dangerous; cunning; clever.
• Captain Jack Sparrow is a parlous individual who undergoes many dangerous adventures while bargaining his way through life.