Page 177 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Essential Vocabulary
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obsessiveness (ahb SES iv nis) n. 1. having the nature of being haunted by
something; 2. a being preoccupied by some emotion, thought, desire, etc. in defi-
ance of reason
• His obsessiveness with being right all the time has driven away all his
friends.
• Xavier has pursued excellence in the field of motorsports with an obsessiveness
that can only be described as being driven (no pun intended).
obstacle (AHB stik il) n. anything that gets in the way or hinders; impediment;
obstacle; barrier
• Police barriers are obstacles meant to keep fans back from parades during
festive occasions.
• Lack of a high school diploma or equivalency diploma can be a real
obstacle to getting a college degree.
obstreperous (ahb STRE pir us) adj. noisy, unruly, or boisterous, especially in
one’s opposition to something
• College students at a fraternity party generally turn obstreperous after a
couple of hours.
• The opposition party member was obstreperous in his outcry against the
position of the prime minister.
[Syn. vociferous]
offensive (aw FEN siv) adj. 1. attacking; 2. designating the side that is seeking
to score in a contest; 3. aggressive; 4. unpleasant; disgusting; repugnant
• In the game of chess, white always starts out on the offensive, even though
it doesn’t always remain such.
• In volleyball, the offensive side is the one with the serve.
• Offensive action is needed to clean up toxic waste sites.
• A skunk’s odor is extremely offensive to most.
office (AWF is) n. 1. a function or duty assigned to someone; 2. a post or posi-
tion of trust and/or authority; 3. any government branch; 4. the room, suite, or
building occupied by people in definition #2 or #3
• Seeing to it that packages were shipped out on time was the office assigned
to Stanley.
• It was Hillary’s desire to change things that caused her to run for office.
• The post office sees to the delivery of the mail six days a week and rests on
the seventh.
• The senators’ offices are for the most part, unsurprisingly, in the Senate
Office Building.
[Syn. position, function]
onerous (OH nir is) adj. 1. laborious; burdensome; 2. more burdensome than
rewarding
• The onerous task of cutting wood for the winter is tedious as well as diffi-
cult; that’s what makes it onerous.
• A job that requires a great amount of energy and pays a very small return
is onerous.
• Slave labor is the perfect example of onerous work.