neophyte \NEE-uh-fyt\ , noun;
1. A new convert or proselyte.
2. A novice; a beginner in anything.
Examples:
- I was a complete neophyte and knew nothing about the choreographic process, but seeing the steps pour out of this man was a revelation.
- She, the neophyte, with as yet no experience of this, had settled eagerly to the task.
- As a neophyte in politics, I didn’t understand that ducking the issues was the goal of most campaigns.
portentous \por-TEN-tus\ , adjective;
1. Foreboding; foreshadowing, especially foreshadowing ill; ominous.
2. Marvelous; prodigious; wonderful; as, a beast of portentous size.
3. Pompous.
Examples:
- This victory is without doubt a very special andportentous gift of the gods, she said, “for I believe that there now stands before you the one leader who is the single most qualified to lead us to the peace we long for.”
- Death of a Salesman has been debunked as a didactic commentary on the bankruptcy of the American dream of success, while Miller has been dismissed as an epigone of Ibsenism, a preachy, pompous and, yes,portentous writer who belongs, like Clifford Odets and Lillian Hellman, to a middlebrow, pre-modernist past.
impecunious \im-pih-KYOO-nee-uhs\ , adjective;
Not having money; habitually without money; poor.
Examples:
- Her father, Bronson, was a respected butimpecunious New England transcendentalist who had ‘no gift for money making’, according to [Louisa May] Alcott’s journal.’
- He had gotten to know Garibaldi during theimpecunious soldier’s last years and would send him woolen socks, underwear, and money.
- It may be urged that an impecunious defendant would be unable to bear the expense of an appeal and would have to let it go by default.
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