Vocabulary: Fall List 1

adumbrate: report or represent in outline; indicate faintly;
foreshadow or symbolize
The ending of the novel is already adumbrated [foreshadowed] in the first chapter.
apotheosis: the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax;
the elevation of someone to divine status; deification
His apotheosis, it now seems, has led only to agony.
ascetic: characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons; a person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention
His policies had failed, but people admired his sincerity and his ascetic life. 
bauble: a small, showy trinket or decoration; a baton formerly used as an emblem by jesters
Real power for the first time in the better part of a century is no small bauble.
beguile: charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way; help (time) pass pleasantly
She'd used her daughter's identity to beguile the two men.
burgeon: begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish; put forth young shoots; bud
As they wilt the bases of the flowers bulge at the stems and quickly burgeon into squash
complement: a thing that completes or brings to perfection; a number or quantity of something required to make a group complete; add to (something) in a way that enhances or improves it; make perfect
There is perhaps something missing, a complement by the addition of which the theory would be made completely satisfactory.
contumacious: (especially of a defendant's behavior) stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority
Cases are not wanting in which contumacious offenders were actually committed to prison.
curmudgeon: a bad-tempered or surly person
Certainly our gallery visitors don't want to get into a deep philosophical discussion with a cranky curmudgeon.
didactic: intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive; in the manner of a teacher, particularly so as to treat someone in a patronizing way
 Furthermore, Dr. Preston must have teaching experience and good didactic skills.