Vocabulary Enrichment No. 2

1. Your Word
2. Where you read it (source info).
3. The entire sentence in which you found this word.
4. Dictionary definition for this word; part of speech (noun, verb, etc.).
5. Use the word in a new sentence. Your sentence should make it clear that you understand the meaning of this word and know how to use it.

draconian

Human rights groups, however, said the measures were "draconian" and counter-productive. (To Stop Isis, Britain is Set to Stop Free Speech, Nico Hines, November 25, 2014)

adj. - something that is excessively harsh and severe; prescribing death for almost every offence.

Beheading was quite a draconian penalty for stealing an apple.

cacophony

Overtoning allows us to incorporate plenty of herbs, spices or other closely related ingredients in a dish without it turning into a cacophony of contrasting elements. (There's a Science to Food Pairing, And You Can Learn It Here, Peter Coucquyt, Bernard Lahousse, and Johan Langenbick, October 22,2020)

noun - a harsh mixture of sounds

The children's symphony started to play a cacophony 

avant-garde

And,as the enigmatic front man to an avant-garde indie rock group, he is droll, perceptive, and splendidly weird. (Oscar 2015: The Daily Beast's Picks, from Scarlett Johannsson to 'Boyhood')

noun - the advance group in any field, especially visual, literary, or musical arts, whose works are characterized chiefly by unorthodox and experimental methods.

Chuck called his new jacket "avant-garde," we just called it ugly.

yore

And there's historical precedent for this, even in our own country- asylums and hospitals in days of yore (Christine Montross, As Quoted in "Psychiatrist: America's 'Extremely Punitive' Prisons Make Mental Illness Worse," NPR, July 16, 2020.)

noun - time past

The great knights and kings of yore have compelling legacies by today's standards.

wampum

It was part of an elaborate exchange of medals, pipes, wampum and other tangible symbols of amity between the Haudenosaunee and the U.S. (Suzan Shown Harjo, "Three-Centuruy Whodunnit: Gifted, Burned, Stolen and Mailed. Cornplanter's Pipe Comes Home," Indian Country Today, March 31, 2019)

noun - cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes.

"Money is money," said the exchange clerk as she took our wampum and gave its equivalent in Euros.

azure

The mountains pushed apart land, sea and sky with nonchalant grandeur; their peaks stark white, their flanks hazed white and blue and azure. (Will Self, "Tough Tough Toys for Tough Tough Boys," Paris Review, Spring 1998)

adj. - of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.

Frank haphazardly combined the colors on his palette, envisioning a refined azure that ended up becoming a dull brown.

repentance

There is no greater opportunity for a pop star than repentance- the chance to rise again after a self-inflicted downfall. (Carrie Battan, "Redemption Song," The New Yorker, November 22, 2015)

noun - deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like.

Christ said that repentance for your sins was key to getting into heaven, but the stubborn man decided he'd rather burn in hell than admit he was wrong. 

camion

The drop wasn't a great distance, but if we had taken the fall no doubt we would have been found with the camion resting on the back of our necks. (Kirkland Hart Day, Camion Cartoons, 1919)

noun - a truck, as for military or supplies.

The North Korean military unveiled their new fleet of cargo trucks, but unfortunately none of the camions actually worked. 

testudinate

Each house as almost 800 square metes in size and featured an atrium that was likely testudinate or fully roofed over so that the beams rested directly onto the wall and there were no interior columns. (Claudio Bizzari and David Soren, "Innovations and Legacy of Rome," A Companion to the Etruscans, 2016)

adj. - formed like the carapace of a tortoise; arched; vaulted

The cathedrals grand ceiling stood testudinate in some areas, and flattened in others, giving an awe-inspiring feeling to all who looked up during worship.

spelunk

On the Travel Channel, we spelunk the caverns of Callao, explore the garish catacombs of the Great Barrier Reef, and learn about the medicinal benefits of turmeric. (Jonathan Evison, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, 2012)

verb - to explore caves, especially as a hobby

We were planning to spelunk through Lewis and Clark Caverns, but decided against it when 3 people went missing on the tour ahead of us.