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Gladiator Word of The Day: October 5 - October 9, 2009
Gladiator Word of The Day: October 5 - October 9, 2009
October 5– October 9, 2009
Tenacity
tenacity
i (tuh
( h nas ih tee))
Firmness; persistence
Picture this:
ten a city
y If you have enough tenacity, you can learn everything you need to
learn to pass the FCAT.
y Carol demonstrated remarkable tenacity in achieving her goal of
receiving a perfect score on the SAT; she studied for an hour every
day for a year, never allowing herself to be distracted.
y Thomas Edison showed incredible tenacity in his invention of the
light‐bulb; he tried thousands of substances in the filament before
finding one that worked properly.
Undermine
undermine
d i (un dur
( d mine)
i )
Weaken; sap
Picture this:
under mine
y Rod’s efforts to improve his vocabulary were undermined by his
refusal to reinforce his learning by reading some good books and
magazines.
g
y It’s very important that a teacher’s authority over his or her class
not be undermined.
y The prosecutor
The prosecutor’s case was undermined
s case was undermined when the star witness
admitted that she may have been mistaken in her identification of
the accused.
Virtuoso
virtuoso
i (vur
( choo
h oh so)
h )
Highly skilled artist
Picture this:
virtue oh so
Capricious; fanciful
Picture this:
whim sickle
y The movie The Wizard of Oz displays a whimsical sense of humor
that appeals to both children and adults.
y When he was feeling whimsical, the science fiction writer Isaac
Asimov enjoyed writing limericks – short, humorous, often
nonsensical verse.
y Sabrina was in one of her whimsical moods:
moods: “Let’s do something
Let s do something
different today,” she said to her boyfriend. “Let’s act out a scene
from Romeo and Juliet in Mr. Harrison’s physics class.”
Zealot
zealot
l (zel
( l ut))
Fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal
Picture this:
Z lot
y Although Donna has a deep belief in the truth of her religion, she
is no zealot; she respects the beliefs of others.
y Senator Smith s a zealot when it comes to the issues of
conservation; she supports far more measures to protect the
environment than anyone else in Congress.
y Uncle Rick could be regarded as a zealot when it comes to
supporting his political party; he has voted for all the candidates
of his party in every election since 1975.