MORE VOCABRA 11

meander• Liz likes to walk straight to class, but

Bethany likes to meander.

• Instead of sticking to geology, Ms. Fitch usually meanders onto other subjects like surfing and pancakes.

• Definition: to wander aimlessly

lavish• Instead of crackers and cheese, Daisy put

out a lavish spread that included caviar, shrimp, imported cheeses and truffles.

• Richard wanted a simple wedding in his mother’s flower garden but Fifi wanted a lavish celebration at the Ritz.

• Definition: extravagant, more than enough

nausea• Whenever Kim sets foot on a boat, she has

feelings of nausea and has to run to the bathroom.

• The nausea Harry felt when he sniffed the sour milk was obvious from the shade of green he turned.

• Definition: a feeling of being sick to the stomach, including the impulse to vomit

fraud• Janie thought the telemarketer was a fraud,

so she didn’t give him any information or money.

• Everyone discovered that the Santa Claus was a fraud when little Freddie yanked his beard off.

• Definition: a person who is not what he or she pretends to be; a fake or a phony

petty• Paula and Sandy decided it was silly to en

their friendship over something as petty as whose turn it was to drive the golf cart.

• Toby’s petty complaints about his socks not matching his underwear were driving his mother crazy.

• Definition: unimportant; trivial

accumulate• Drew liked to accumulate comic books so

much that there was hardly room left in his bedroom for his bed.

• Jerry wrote his girlfriend’s name in the dust that had accumulated on his desk.

• Definition: to pile up, gather or collect

buffoon• It is nearly impossible to have a serious

conversation with Adam when he is behaving like such a buffoon.

• Cora is such a buffoon that it was no surprise at all when she won the leading role in the drama club comedy.

• Definition: someone who is always clowning around

zany• Tara’s uncle loves the zany humor of Jim

Carey.

• Quincy is way too serious to pull a stunt as zany as super-gluing thirty pairs of old tennis shoes to the gym floor.

• Definition: extremely silly or foolish

puny• After he watched the Superman movie,

Terry’s little brother toddled around flexing his puny biceps.

• Ned was puny until the 9th grade. Then he quickly grew to be the biggest player on his high school football team.

• Definition: small or weak

colossal• Cleaning up after the massive flood was a

colossal task for the Stevens family.

• Jordan knew it was a colossal mistake to the tell the principal to go suck an egg.

• Definition: huge

vaudeville• They laughed at the vaudeville show, especially

when the juggling comedian performed.

• Since they all had a variety of talents, the girls decided to do an old-fashioned vaudeville show for their fundraiser.

• Definition: a type of variety show popular before radio and television, consisting of short acts such as juggling, comic skits, songs, and dance routines, etc

mayhem• The pictures of mayhem sent back from

the battlefield sickened the war protesters.

• The substitute teacher was fired when the principal saw the mayhem he was allowing in the classroom.

• Definition: intentional violence or destruction

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