Vocabulary Mnemonics

March 8, 2024

Matt’s words

Peripatetic: traveling from place to place, moving around a lot.

Think traveling salesmen, military families.

“The peripatetic lifestyle of NBA players”

“…Rockefeller’s peripatetic childhood.”

Mnemonic: In the middle of the word you have “pat-pat-pat-pat” which happens to be the sound your feet make when you travel around a lot.

So, just think “peri-pat-pat-pat-etic…”

Soporific: something that induces drowsiness. Puts you to sleep.

“Yawning has a soporific effect on those nearby.”

“The soporific lecture…”

“She took a soporific…”

Mnemonic: You just have to add a yawn to the beginning… Saaaaaaaporofic.

Callow: immature. Usually used to describe youth.

The callow youth…

“The callow you were diving in the shallow end of the pool.”

Mnemonic: Think shallow/callow.

Aesthetic: concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty

Aesthetically pleasing…

“The small house was aesthetically pleasing.”

Mnemonic: Ehhh, the tic – appreciates ticks.

Cachet: prestige: state of being respected or admired.

“Wearing a diamond-studded Super Bowl ring gave the quarterback a certain level of cachet among the young rookies.”

Mnemonic: Break the word down into two parts: Cash (as in money) and “A.”Cash is already prestigious… but A-level cash is even more prestigious. That’s exactly what you get with cachet.

Dr. Mom’s words

Lacuna: an absent part, unfilled gap; often used in the context of knowledge

“There is a lacuna in the defendant’s account of where she was on the night of the crime.”

Mnemonic: Break up the word into lack una (one in Spanish) part of something; otherwise, _____ would be complete.

Amplitude: a large amount, wide range; in math, the height of a sin wave, for example

“The amplitude of the long jumper’s flight through the air was impressive.”

Mnemonic: When we “amp” up, we heighten our enthusiasm.

Inscrutable: hard to understand; mysterious

“Mona Lisa’s facial expression has been described as inscrutable. What was on her mind?”

Mnemonic: Picture a table (found at the end of the word) in your mind. Now imagine a huge screw screwed right into the middle of the table. You would wonder, “Why is that screw there? I don’t understand. It’s a mystery.”

Nefarious: morally bad, especially referring to activities; evil

“The movie director had created some great films but often using nefarious practices.”

Mnemonic: Break the word into inexact syllables: “Not fair to us,” says people who has been harmed.

Conundrum: a riddle or puzzle; a confusing or difficult problem; a head scratcher

“Why are those giant heads there on Easter Island? That’s been a conundrum for archaeologists for eons.”

Mnemonic: Using syllables 2 and 3 of this word, imagine a nun pounding on a big brass drum. She’s making a ruckus in an otherwise serene convent setting. Why? That doesn’t make sense.

BIG Sentence:

“As a callow youth living an aesthetically pleasing, peripatetic lifestyle with all the cachet that affords and with no nefarious intent, I recognized an inscrutable lacuna in my knowledge of the amplitude of the stones at Stonehenge and found pondering this conundrum anything but soporific.”