Vocabulary #9

aficionado: someone who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about something.
I am an aficionado about tennis.
browbeat: to intimidate someone into doing something.
I browbeat my sister into doing the dishes for me.
commensurate: equal or similar to something in size or amount

My brother's bag of candy was commensurate to my bag of candy. 
diaphanous: light, delicate, and translucent

We needed to be diaphanous with the subject, considering it was such a difficult topic to bring up. 

emolument: a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office

Her emolument was larger than mine, but only because she has a larger family. 

foray: a sudden attack or incursion into enemy territory

I decided to concoct a foray on my sister and her friends. 

genre: a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in
form, style, or subject matter

My favorite genre is fiction, overall. 

homily: commentary that follows a reading of scripture

Dr. Preston decided to add his own personal homily after he read Hamlet. 

immure: enclose or confine against their will

My dad likes to immure me in a headlock sometimes for fun. It's not fun. 

insouciant: showing a casual lack of concern; indifferent

I seemed to have sprained my ankle, but my dad was insouciant and didn't believe me. 

matrix: an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or
structure

The cactus' matrix is usually in the desert, or a dry land. 

obsequies: funeral rites
panache: flamboyant manner and reckless courage

She was acting with so much panache that I don't think she was even being serious. 

persona: the image or personality that a person presents 

My persona is usually defined as sassy. I don't see it. 

philippic: a bitter attack or denunciation

My mom was so philippic toward me when she got home that I didn't even know what to do. 
prurient: having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters

"50 Shades of Grey" is too prurient for my taste. 

sacrosanct: regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with

My mom is such a sacrosanct that no one messes with her. 

systemic: of or relating to a system, esp. as opposed to a particular part

Everyone in the world is somehow related to a systemic program. 

tendentious: expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view

In court, her dad was put on the stand to show his tendentious feelings toward the situation. 

vicissitude: a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant

The vicissitude that my brother has is unreal. He always seems to get the short end of the stick.