Page 174 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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M – N: SAT Words
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negligible (NEG li jib il) adj. small enough to be disregarded; hardly noticeable;
trifling
• The difference between a 30-gram and a 29-gram portion of flour is negligi-
ble to the naked eye.
• The ineffective diet that Shaila was on for 7 weeks had a negligible influ-
ence on her weight.
[negligibly adv.]
nitpicker (NIT pik oer) n. one who finds fault with petty details; one who pays
too much attention to little things that shouldn’t ordinarily matter; one who is
petty or overly finicky
• Mrs. Higgins was a real nitpicker and would deduct points from an essay for
every undotted j or i in a handwritten creative paper.
•To nitpick originally meant to pick tiny nits (lice eggs) out of someone’s
hair by using a comb or tweezers; it’s not too hard to see how nitpicker
today describes someone who obsesses over tiny details.
[nitpick vi.]
nomenclature (NOH min KLAY chir) n. 1. a set of names that is peculiar to a
particular field (for example, ROM and RAM in computers) or terms exclusive to
biology or another science; 2. the act or system of naming
• In the nomenclature of computers, ROM is read-only memory, while RAM is
random-access memory.
• A dele is a deletion, parens are parentheses, and a graph is a paragraph in
the nomenclature of proofreading.
nonchalance (NAHN shuh LAHNS) n. the state or quality of not showing
warmth or interest in something; coolness; showing a lack of concern
• Beth greeted the news of Amy’s marrying her old boyfriend, John, with
nonchalance.
• There was an air of nonchalance on the face of the killer as he mowed down
the nest of termites with his spray gun.
[Syn. equanimity]
nondescript (NAHN dis KRIPT) adj. 1. hard to classify because of a lack of
recognizable qualities; 2. dull; uninteresting
• Kenny drove a nondescript car from the mid to late ’60s.
• The only way Jim could describe Edna’s neighborhood was shabby, but as
for any particular features, it was just nondescript.
novel (NAH vil) adj. new; unusual —n. a relatively long piece of fictional prose
with a complicated plot
• The Fosbury Flop was a rather novel approach to the high jump track-and-
field event.
• When it comes to recreational reading, Marianne finds a novel much more
satisfying than a book of short stories.