This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on March 17, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Exorbitant means:
A) Concealed underground
B) Fairly priced
C) Unreasonably expensive
D) Marked by external beauty
Vocab Practice: Exorbitant
March 25, 2014 by
Sybarite or Queen? Judge for yourself…
March 24, 2014 by
Marie Antoinette, France’s most infamous queen, was known for her expensive tastes.
Born in Austria, she arrived in France in 1770 and became queen when her husband ascended to the throne as King Louis XVI.
Feeling bored and rebellious against many of the stiff rules of the French court, Marie Antoinette took delight in luxury. She once bought a pair of diamond bracelets that cost as much as a mansion!
As a result, the queen developed a reputation as a sybarite (see definition and hear pronunciation below).
Her extravagance, coupled with her ignorance of the poverty that afflicted many of her subjects, led to rumors that she once said of the starving French people: “Let them eat cake.”
Marie Antoinette never really made the remark, but her image of being overly self-indulgent has remained.
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: How do you think a sybarite might act today?
Sybarite: A self-indulgent person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
Click to hear the pronunciation of sybarite:
Cool Word Challenge: Exorbitant and Apocryphal
March 21, 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:
Exorbitant: Beyond what is fair or expected; unreasonably expensive.
Apocryphal: Of questionable authenticity, although widely circulated as being true.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
An Apocryphal Cookie Tale!
March 20, 2014 by
When it comes to homemade treats, chocolate-chip cookies are all-time favorites!
The first known chocolate-chip cookie was baked in the 1930s in the kitchen of Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House restaurant in Massachusetts.
How did she come up with such a delectable combination?
According to one legend, Wakefield was stirring up a batch of cookie dough and, by lucky chance, a bar of chocolate fell from a shelf and broke, adding tasty chocolate morsels to the batter.
This story, however, is most likely apocryphal (see definition and hear pronunciation below).
In reality, she probably came up with the idea of mixing cookie dough and chocolate through her expertise as a celebrated baker.
Either way, her cookie creation was a real winner!
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Have you heard any apocryphal stories about famous people, places or things?
Apocryphal: Of questionable authenticity, although widely circulated as being true.
Click to hear the pronunciation of apocryphal:
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/apocryphal.mp3
Vocab Practice: Sartorial
March 19, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on March 13, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Sartorial means:
A) Related to clothes or style of dress
B) Originating in photographs or films
C) Accompanied by a slim physique
D) Adorned in classic colors
Vocab Practice: Taciturn
March 18, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on March 10, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Taciturn means:
A) Quick-witted
B) Quiet by temperament
C) Prone to dizziness
D) Marked by sarcasm
An Exorbitant Indulgence?
March 17, 2014 by
What would you pay for a nice bunch of fresh flowers?
If you had been a Dutch citizen living in the mid-1630s, you may have spent more for fresh tulips than anyone would consider reasonable by today’s standards.
Why were these flowers considered so valuable?
As tulips became a coveted symbol of social status, the cost of the flowers rose with extraordinary speed.
In fact, at one point a single tulip bulb was reportedly worth the equivalent of an entire home in Amsterdam.
Such exorbitant (see definition and hear pronunciation below) prices couldn’t last for long, and in February 1637, the tulip market crashed.
No wonder these wild financial speculations were later dubbed “tulip mania”!
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: Have you ever bought something at an exorbitant price?
Exorbitant: Beyond what is fair or expected; unreasonably expensive.
Click to hear the pronunciation of exorbitant:
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/exorbitant.mp3
Cool Word Challenge: Taciturn and Sartorial
March 14, 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:
Taciturn: Tending to be quiet or silent by temperament; not talkative, sometimes dour.
Sartorial: Of or relating to tailoring, clothes or one’s style or manner of dress.
Submit your sentence below. The most creative ones that we receive will be published on our site!
She’s a Picture of Sartorial Elegance…
March 13, 2014 by
What you choose to wear can make a subtle statement about who you are and what you like.
Many people get their inspiration from the movies, emulating the fashions of their favorite stars.
Among women, one of the most widely imitated movie stars of all time is Audrey Hepburn, who appeared in such films as the 1961 classic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
With fashion choices tailored by the famed designer Hubert de Givenchy, Hepburn was known for her sartorial (see definition and hear pronunciation below) elegance.
Hepburn couldn’t have been any happier with the designer’s styles. In fact, she was reported to have once said, “His are the only clothes in which I am myself.”
Cool word vocabulary question of the day: What are some of your favorite sartorial choices?
Sartorial: Of or relating to tailoring, clothes or one’s style or manner of dress.
Click to hear the pronunciation of sartorial:
https://coolwordclub.com/wp-content/uploads/sartorial.mp3
Vocab Practice: Tactile
March 12, 2014 by
This word appeared on the Cool Word Club website on March 6, 2014.
Let’s do a practice round!
Tactile means:
A) Inappropriately large
B) Perceptible by touch
C) Characterized by vibrant colors
D) Feminine in appearance
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