Page 319 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

31_571656 ch26.qxd 11/10/04 12:44 PM Page 310
Essential Vocabulary
310
• Pastel colors are muted rather than intense.
•A mute is a person without the ability to vocalize sounds.
[-d, muting] [Syn. subdue]
nadir (NAY duhr) n. 1. lowest point; 2. the point on a celestial sphere directly
opposite the zenith
• The Watergate scandal was the nadir of Richard Nixon’s career.
• The nadir on earth is in the Marianas Trench.
• The moon is at its nadir when it is closest to earth.
nascent (NAY sint) adj. 1. beginning to form, start, grow; 2. being born
• Compared to the civilizations of Europe and Asia, that of the United States
is nascent.
• A young child’s view of the world is nascent and is shaped by parents as
well as environment.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. starting]
noisome (NOI suhm) adj. 1. harmful; dangerous to one’s health; 2. having a
foul odor
• Cigarette smoking is noisome in every sense of the word.
• Playing with explosives can be a very noisome pursuit.
• When purchasing fish for dinner, use your nose, and if the fish is noisome,
reject it.
[-ly adv.]
nostalgia (naws TAL juh) n. 1. a longing to return to past, happier times; 2. a
longing to return home or to familiar things; 3. old things that remind us of
the past
• Nostalgia for things past is demonstrated by some of the automobiles that
have achieved popularity at the start of the twenty-first century.
• There is a big market for old dolls and other nostalgia from the childhood
of today’s older adults as they seek to recapture their past.
• Nostalgia was captured by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz with the quote,
“There’s no place like home!”
[Syn. homesickness]
nourish (NOER ish) vt. 1. to feed or sustain a plant or animal with food and
water; 2. to foster, develop, or promote a feeling, habit, relationship, and so on
• Parents are responsible for nourishing their children physically, emotionally,
and—some might add—spiritually.
• A friendship needs to be nourished to keep it healthy and thriving.
• Celia does not wish to nourish Lou’s belief that they have a future together.
novelistic (NAH vil IS tik) adj. unique; different; the first of its kind
• Thomas Edison made a fortune from the novelistic idea that sounds could
be recorded on a wire.
• Truly novelistic ideas should be copyrighted or patented to keep them safe
from unscrupulous people.
[-ally adv.] [Syn. unique]