The Great Gatsby

Vocabulary I

complacency

•noun•Self-satisfaction•Because of their complacency,

the number one team didn’t take the game seriously and lost to an unranked opponent.

infinitesimal• adjective

• Incalculably small

• The only errors I could find in your paper were infinitesimal, so it is ready to be entered in the contest.

pungent

• adjective

• Strong smelling• The formaldehyde was so

pungent in the new carpet that everyone in the room plugged their noses.

languid• adjective

• Inactive; sluggish• Since many students are not

morning people, their languid behavior rubs off on me, and I feel tired, too.

strident

• adjective

• Harsh and insistent• The coach’s strident demands

led to complaints in the locker room and threats of quitting the team.

discordant• adjective

• Clashing; out of harmony

• The couple’s discordant personalities made us recall the phrase, “Opposites attract.”

poignant

• adjective

• Moving; affecting (emotionally)

• His poignant performance brought the audience to tears.

punctilious

•adjective•Careful; exacting•Brain surgery is such punctilious work that only the most steady surgeons can become certified.

nebulous

• adjective

• indistinct• His nebulous directions left all

of us confused; we didn’t know if we should turn left or right at the intersection.

vestige• noun

• Trace, mark or sign, especially of something that has passed away

• I kept the broken watch because it was the last vestige I had of my deceased grandfather.