Improve your vocabulary by studying these star-studded sentences!
Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a Peabody Award for their meritorious work on South Park. Ceremony host Jon Stewart extolled the show's enduring freshness and hilarity during his introduction of the honorees.
meritorious – (adjective) worthy of honor
extol – (verb) to praise greatly
enduring - (adjective) lasting
Donald Trump has abrogated his responsibility as a parent to change his son's diaper. He claims that he does not know how to perform this apparently arcane task. (Notice the mordant tone of that sentence. What could be more mundane than changing a diaper?)
abrogate – (verb) to abolish or do away with
arcane – (adjective) requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
mordant - (adjective) sarcastic
mundane – (adjective) ordinary
The Church of Scientology is skilled at bringing public attention to itself through the cunning recruitment of celebrities such as Tom Cruise into its fold. The religious group has parlayed this finesse into extending its hegemony to include NASCAR racers, sponsoring a racing team and setting up a Dianetics Racing website.
cunning - (adjective) clever, crafty
parlay – (verb) to exploit successfully
finesse – (noun) skillful elegance or expertise
hegemony – (noun) influence or authority over others
Winona Ryder has reunited with the writer of Heathers, the movie that captured the zeitgeist of the Generation X era with lines like "What is your damage, Heather?" They are working on a new independent film that will cast Winona as a feminist vigilante who chases down male sex offenders.
zeitgeist – (noun) the spirit of the age
vigilante – (noun) a self-appointed doer of justice
The Break-Up, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, has been excoriated by the press. Apparently, the performances are graceless and the plot is execrable.
excoriate – (verb) to censure scathingly
graceless – (adjective) devoid of attractive qualities, artistically inept
execrable – (adjective) very bad, detestable
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, who has been given the sobriquet "Baby Brangelina" by the media, will be the subject of a documentary airing on VH1. The program will touch upon the full gamut of the frenetic media coverage surrounding her birth and will include candid footage of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's expatriate activities in Namibia.
sobriquet – (noun) nickname
gamut – (noun) range
frenetic – (adjective) frenzied
candid - (adjective) honest and open, fair and impartial
expatriate – (adjective) living in a foreign land [the noun form of this word means "someone who lives abroad;" the verb form means "to live abroad"]
Scientology zealot Tom Cruise reportedly sent Katie Holmes to the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles for a clandestine meeting with Katharine McPhee to arrange for the singer to perform at their wedding.
zealot – (noun) a single-minded and determined supporter of a political cause, religion, etc.
clandestine – (adjective) concealed, secret, furtive
Lindsay Lohan's fervor for shopping reportedly cost her over a million dollars last year. Rumors abound that she may be seeking the services of a hypnotist to help quell her inclination to make imprudent purchases.
fervor - (noun) passionate enthusiasm
abound - (verb) to exist in large numbers
quell - (verb) to suppress or put an end to
imprudent - (adjective) lacking in good sense
Pop icon and perennial maverick Prince will receive a Special Achievement Webby Award for staying at the vanguard of music technology. He is being formally recognized as the first major artist to release an entire album on the Web.
perennial – (adjective) continuing without interruption
maverick – (noun) an independent individual
vanguard – (noun) the forefront of an action or movement
In her forthcoming memoir, Dirty Blonde, Courtney Love elucidates salient aspects of her life. She ponders about her fame, shares memorabilia collected throughout her career, and even concedes that Kurt Cobain's overdose in Rome was actually a suicide attempt.
elucidate – (verb) to make clear or explain
salient - (adjective) prominent
ponder – (verb) to consider or contemplate
memorabilia - (noun) souvenirs
concede – (verb) to admit to be true or correct
