This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on Sept. Oct. 27, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Parsimonious means:
A) Marked by parity
B) Extremely conscientious
C) Prone to introversion
D) Excessively frugal
Vocab Practice: Parsimonious
November 4, 2014 by
A Virtuoso for the Ages!
November 3, 2014 by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of history’s greatest musical geniuses.
Born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart learned to play several instruments and became a virtuoso (see definition and hear pronunciation below) musician as a small child.
At the age of five, he wrote his first musical compositions and, by the next year, began performing in public.
Wolfgang’s father, Leopold, served as his early music teacher and was delighted by the enthusiasm that the public showed for his son’s talent.
It’s said that the young Mozart had a remarkable ability to listen to a piece of music and reproduce it just from memory!
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Can you think of other virtuosos in music, art, dance or other disciplines?
Virtuoso: A person who is exceptionally skilled in music or another artistic pursuit; marked by masterly skill.
Click here to hear a pronunciation of virtuoso.
Cool Word Challenge: Parsimonious and Cumbersome
October 31, 2014 by
Cool Word Challenge: Just for fun, come up with one sentence that uses both of the cool vocabulary words that you learned this week.
Here are the words again:
Parsimonious: Excessively frugal; unwilling to spend money; stingy.
Cumbersome: Difficult to use because of its size or bulk; unwieldy.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
A Cumbersome Coat of Armor
October 30, 2014 by
Suits of armor were worn by soldiers in the Middle Ages as protection against the slings and arrows of battle.
But could those clanking suits have been more cumbersome (see definition and hear pronunciation below) than helpful?
In recent years, scientists have concluded that the weight of interlocking metal plates would likely have caused the soldier wearing armor to use about twice as much energy as normal.
That’s not surprising since these suits of armor could weigh up to 110 pounds each!
Though armor may have shielded soldiers from lethal weapons of the era, exhaustion may have proved to be almost as formidable a foe.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: How do you think it would have felt to wear roughly 100 pounds of cumbersome armor?
Cumbersome: Difficult to use because of its size or bulk; unwieldy.
Click here to hear a pronunciation of cumbersome.
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/cumbersome.mp3
Vocab Practice: Impervious
October 29, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on Oct. 23, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Impervious means:
A) Illogical
B) Slippery
C) Pliable
D) Impenetrable
Vocab Practice: Antipathy
October 28, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on Sept. Oct. 20, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Antipathy means:
A) Cooperation
B) Dislike
C) Confusion
D) Alienation
A Parsimonious Philanthropist
October 27, 2014 by
John D. Rockefeller, the American tycoon and founder of the Standard Oil Company, is famous for his wealth.
In the 1890s, when the average person in the US made less than $10 a week, Rockefeller earned a whopping $10 million a year!
In addition to being a shrewd businessman, Rockefeller was known for being parsimonious (see definition and hear pronunciation below) with his great wealth, spending as little as possible in his daily life.
What he saved in living expenses, however, he spent on philanthropy–Rockefeller donated $540 million during his lifetime to create two universities, fund medical research and reduce poverty in the US.
That’s quite a legacy!
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Can you think of any philanthropists today who aren’t parsimonious about giving to charity?
Parsimonious: Excessively frugal; unwilling to spend money; stingy.
Click here to hear a pronunciation of parsimonious.
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/parsimonious.mp3
Cool Word Challenge: Antipathy and Impervious
October 24, 2014 by
Cool Word Challenge: Just for fun, come up with one sentence that uses both of the cool vocabulary words that you learned this week.
Here are the words again:
Antipathy: Strong feeling of aversion; dislike.
Impervious: Not allowing something (such as water or light) to enter or pass through; impenetrable.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
It’s Impervious to the Elements!
October 23, 2014 by
For centuries, humans have invented ways to keep the rain off their backs during a downpour.
As early as the 13th century, rubber-tree extracts were used to make clothing impervious (see definition and hear pronunciation below) to the elements.
But the first known raincoat was not created until the late 18th century in London, a city famous for its wet weather.
However, it took a native of another damp climate—Scotland–to hone the idea of a rainproof coat into something we know today: the “Mackintosh.”
It was Charles Macintosh, a chemist, who patented this invention almost 200 years ago–in 1823.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Can you think of a new invention that would make you impervious to the rain?
Impervious: Not allowing something (such as water or light) to enter or pass through; impenetrable.
Click here to hear a pronunciation of impervious.
Vocab Practice: Coagulate
October 22, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on Oct. 16, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Coagulate means:
A) To create an aroma
B) To crumble into pieces
C) To become thickened
D) To taste extremely sweet
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