2013.11.20 word (week11-3)

1.palatable (a.)

[more palatable; most palatable] somewhat formal 1) : having a pleasant or agreeable taste
▪ palatable food ▪ a less than palatable beer

2) : pleasant or acceptable to someone

— usually + to ▪ The play has been rewritten in an attempt to make it more palatable to modern audiences. ▪ Traveling by train is a palatable alternative to driving.

 *palatability (noun) [noncount]

2.scrupulous (a.)

[more scrupulous; most scrupulous]

1) : very careful about doing something correctly
▪ She was always scrupulous about her work. ▪ The work requires scrupulous attention to detail. ▪ They were scrupulous [=meticulous] in their testing.

2) : careful about doing what is honest and morally right
▪ Less scrupulous companies find ways to evade the law.

 

3.tenable(a.)

[more tenable; most tenable] formal : capable of being defended against attack or criticism
▪ The theory is no longer tenable. [=defensible] ▪ a tenable argument

4.depreciate(v.)
1 )
a [+ obj] : to cause (something) to have a lower price or value
▪ These changes have greatly depreciated the value of the house.
b [no obj] : to decrease in value
▪ New cars depreciate rapidly. ▪ The value of the house has depreciated greatly.

2) [+ obj] formal : to describe (something) as having little value
▪ He often depreciates [=disparages, belittles] the importance of his work.

 

5.cipher(n.)

1) technical : a way of changing a message to keep it secret : code [count] ▪ a cipher that can't be decoded [noncount] ▪ The message was written in cipher. [=the message was coded]

2) [count] formal + disapproving : a person who has no power or is not important
▪ She was nothing more than a cipher.