SAT Vocab

My detractors are watching me closely- just waiting for me to fall.

Esther Greenwood was unhinged by her experience in New York.

Don’t delude yourself that you will one day get him to “see the light” and come around to your point of view. Time (Jul 23, 2015)

A world turned upside down, saturated with grit and color and love. New York Times (Jul 23, 2015)

Unfortunately, interesting information is frequently padded with irrelevant digressions. Washington Post (Jun 18, 2015)

Residents at her apartment complex said the woman, who was between 45 and 65 years old, developed a churlish reputation over the years. Washington Post (Jul 11, 2015)

Elected officials have been understandably chary of fiddling with something that engenders so much political goodwill. Washington Post (Jun 1, 2015)

It was hard to question the conviction underlying his remarks, but his delivery was phlegmatic. The New Yorker (Jan 18, 2015)

She’s a choleric dragon in a crisp linen dress, wholly unconcerned about her likability. Washington Post (Jun 15, 2015)

All agreed in labeling Netanyahu  disingenuous, imperious,  and  paralyzed  by  paranoia—qualities   not  uncommon among politicians. Salon (Jul 18, 2015)

“But why do you want to keep the embryo below par?” asked an ingenuous student. Brave New World

Some parishioners and priests, many hurt by his decisions, called him chilly and imperious. New York Times (Mar 4, 2015)

In a recent briefing he sounded wistful about an upcoming trip to Kenya, his father's homeland. BBC (Jul 19, 2015)

In court for his formal sentencing on Monday, the bespectacled Mr. Gibbons wore a gray suit and a languid expression on his face. New York Times (Jul 12, 2015)

“Greece, unfortunately, no longer had its own currency when it was forced into drastic fiscal retrenchment,” Krugman wrote. The New Yorker (Jul 12, 2015)

I said, although surely I didn’t sound quite as effusive now that I was completely faking it. Paper Towns

Even at 75 minutes, it can feel padded with footage whose connection to the central plot is tenuous. New York Times (Jun 17, 2015)

The idea that their activities can be left free from at least some degree of transparency and oversight is no longer tenable. The Guardian (May 31, 2015)

At the time, she was a rising star from the critically-acclaimed TV spy drama “Alias,” possessed with an ineffable It Girl likeability. Washington Post (Jun 23, 2015)

But the medication produced lassitude and I felt constantly on the verge of nausea. Black Like Me

My assessment here may seem a bit gloomy to you, but there is method in my lugubrious madness. US News (Aug 19, 2013)

Tall and good-looking, endowed with a “noble mien,” Mr. Darcy initially denigrates Elizabeth Bennet’s appearance: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” New York Times (Jun 28, 2015)

Weather may influence breeding patterns as well as other vectors of the disease like birds. Time (Jul 27, 2015)

Scheider is occasionally too recessive for his own good, while Shaw is too excessive for the good of the film. Time (Jun 18, 2015)

What saves the book from turning maudlin or dour is the youthful vigor of its language and the narrative propulsion of its storytelling. The New Yorker (May 25, 2015)

Shell received conditional approval Wednesday to drill above it. US News (Jul 24, 2015)

What they’d find is that the cameras are about as obtrusive as wall-mounted clocks, doing nothing to add any drama or distraction to the proceedings. MSNBC (Jul 24, 2015)

I don’t often talk about hunting with my patients because it can be a divisive and emotionally charged topic. Time (Jul 28, 2015)

“Oh, Christ, Q. Am I not nice to you? Do I not order my various and sundry minions to be kind to you at school?” Paper Towns

Deeper we go into the quagmire we have made of the Middle East, dragging all and sundry with us. Salon (Jul 27, 2015)

Nevertheless, Cook’s Illustrated’s undeniable failings cry out for remonstrance: Simply put, the magazine takes all the soul out of cooking. Salon (Nov 23, 2014)

“There’s plenty of precedent in baseball and American life of cheating and lying and chicanery of all sorts,” Thorn said. MSNBC (Jun 16, 2015)

Winemakers, generally as congenial a group of people you are likely to meet, are not widely known for erudition or deep perceptive thinking. Forbes (Apr 3, 2015)

“She’s a very fickle friend,” Mr. Wainwright, who is a citizen of both Canada and the U.S., says of the latter. Washington Times (Jul 27, 2015)

But that’s hardly how a recalcitrant Iran is likely to interpret the deal. Wall Street Journal (Jul 20, 2015)

There is something chimerical about any industrial-scale food process: the delicacy of an individual’s process grated onto the grandeur of our civilization’s technical progress. The Verge (Aug 1, 2014)