VOCABULARY #2

Accoutrements: additional items of dress or equipment "The new system will provide the country with all of the accoutrements of a more developed."

Apogee: the highest point in the development of something "The White House is considered the apogee of American achievement."

Apropos: with reference to; concerning "Apropos of nothing, she started speaking only in rhyme."

Bicker: argue about petty and trivial matters "Whenever the phone rings, the bicker over who must answer it."

Coalesce: come together and from one mass or whole "The puddles had coalesced into small streams."

Contretemps: an unexpected and unfortunate occurrence "The hotel had to deal with more than one contretemps before the end of the night."

Convolution: a coil or twist, especially one of many "Crosses are often adorned with elaborate convolutions."

Cull: select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources "Anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history."

Disparate: essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison " They inhibit disparate worlds of thought."

Dogmatic: inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true "He have his opinion without trying to be dogmatic."

Licentious: promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters 

Mete: to distribute "He denounced the maltreatment meted out to minorities."

Noxious: harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant " They we're overcome by the noxious fumes."

Polemic: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something "His polemic against the cultural relativism of the sixties."

Populous: having a large population "China is populous."

Probity: the quality of having strong moral principles "They feel that he has demonstrated little probity in this matter."

Repartee: conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies "An evening of wit and repartee."

Supervene: occur later than a specified or implied event of action, typically in such a way as to change the situation "Any plan that is made is liable to be disrupted by supervening events."

Truncate: shorten by cutting off the top or the end "To truncate the tree we chopped off the top."

Unimpeachable: not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized "An unimpeachable witness was called into question."