DATE	WORD	PRONUNCIATION	PART OF SPEECH	DEFINITION	SYNONYM	SAMPLE SENTENCE
3/1/07	Astral	ASS trul	Adjective	Pertaining to the stars; above the material world	Celestial Astronomical Cosmological	Because the little boy was so interested in outer space, it seemed logical for his new room to be decorated in an astral theme.                                                                                             What is the symbol of the Houston Astros?
3/2/07	Caustic	KAWS tik	Adjective	Corrosive; like acid	Vitriolic	Simon is famous for his caustic and even vitriolic criticisms of American Idol contestants. The caustic detergent ate through Henry's laundry.
3/5/07	Arboreal	are BORE ee ul	Adjective	Pertaining to trees		It would be appropriate to have lots of arboreal activities on Arbor Day because the day is set aside to appreciate trees.
3/6/2007	Catalyst	KAT un lisy	Noun	An agent, chemical or stimulus,  that provokes or speeds significant change or action	Means Channel Vehicle Method	Gasoline can act as a catalyst for spreading fire.  The tragic hijacking provided the catalyst for Congress to enact new anti-terrorist legislation.
3/7/07	Osmosis	oz MOE sis	Noun	The movement of a solvent through a semi-permeable membrane thus a process of gradual absorption		If only you could learn these words through osmosis instead of through assiduous effort.
3/8/07	Synthesis	SIN thuh sis	Noun	A combination of fusion of different elements	Amalgam Conglomeration	The super spider in "Spider Man I" was a synthesis of the traits of over twenty different spiders.
3/9/07	Hermetic	hur MET ik	Adjective	Airtight; protected from outside influence; hard to understand	Sealed tight Enclosed	Good Tupperware should be hermetic or your food will spoil.
3/12/07	Indigenous	in DIJ uh nus	Adjective	Native to an area	Native Original Aboriginal Home-Grown Local	Cardinals are indigenous to the East Coast and the buffalo is indigenous to the Great Plains.  The dandelion is from Europe and is therefore not indigenous to the U. S.
3/13/07	Archipelago	ark uh PELL uh go	Noun	A group or chain of islands; an area of sea with many islands		Hawaii is an archipelago.
3/14/07	Rivulet	RIV you let	Noun	A small stream of flowing water;  a small quick-flowing stream of something	Brook Creek Gully	There are many rivulets emptying into the Potomac River.
3/15/07	Tourniquet	TURN ih ket	Noun	A device or bandage to stop or slow down blood flow		A tourniquet stops the flow of blood in the same way that a dam stops the flow of water.
DATE	WORD	PRONUNCIATION	PART OF SPEECH	DEFINITION	SYNONYM	SAMPLE SENTENCE
3/16/07	Impersonator	im PURS uh nayt ur	Noun	A person who mimics the character, appearance, voice manner or personality of someone else.	Mimic Impressionist Imitator	Leonardo Dicaprio played an impersonator in the movie "Catch Mr. If You Can."
3/19/07	Contemplative	kahn TEMP lay tiv	Adjective	Calm and thoughtful	Meditative Pensive Reflective	When asked whether he should save MJ or the tram filled with children, the contemplative Andrew said "I'd have to think about it."
3/20/07	Livid	LIV is	Verb	To show great anger and rage; to be incensed	Irate Furious	The parents were livid when they discovered that Dewey was an impersonator.
3/21/07	Euphoric	you FOR ik	Adjective	To feel great happiness	Ecstatic Exuberant Elated	The graduates were euphoric at the end of the ceremony.
3/22/07	Parsimonious	par sih MOAN ee us	Adjective	Very stingy	Miserly Thrifty Economical	My parents taught me to be parsimonious and that is a behavior that is hard to change.
3/23/07	Circumspect	SIR kum spekt	Adjective	Very cautious;	Prudent Careful	A circumspect person would certainly "look before he/she leaped".
3/26/07	Unctuous	UNGK choo us	Adjective	Too smooth; too suave and thus giving a false sense of earnestness.	Groveling Creepy Oily	A sycophant is usually unctuous.  Do you recall how unctuous Dewey Finn was when he tried to persuade his principal to give him permission to take his class on a "field trip".
3/27/07	Convivial	kun VIV ee ul	Adjective	Pleasant sociable	Welcoming Warm Friendly	The convivial hostess was the life of the party because she was so affable
3/28/07	Sanctimonious	sank tuh MOAN ee us	Adjective	Holier-than-thou	Self-righteous Smug Pious	Patty, Ned's wife and Dewey's nemesis, was a sanctimonious busybody, who revealed Dewey's true identity.
3/29/07	Spurious	SPYOOR ee us	Adjective	Deceitful Insincere False Bogus	Not based on fact or good reason Likely to be incorrect	A jury has rejected the spurious claim that the police created evidence.
3/30/07	Inexorable	in EK sur uh bul	Adjective	Relentless Inevitable Unavoidable	Unalterable Unstoppable Unchangeable	The inexorable waves pounded the shore as they have for centuries.
DATE	WORD	PRONUNCIATION	PART                 OF SPEECH	DEFINITION	SYNONYM	SAMPLE SENTENCE
3/31/06	Exculpate	eks KULP ayt	Verb	To be freed from blame; to be declared innocent	To clear To exonerate	The prisoner was exculpated when the DNA results were presented to the jury.
Root Family of the Month
THE PATHOS FAMILY				FEELING	Apathy Antipathy Sympathy Empathy Telepathy