knack

knack    [nak]

noun.  a special skill or talent, often natural

"Donald Trump certainly has a knack for keeping his name in the news."

"The autistic kid had a strange knack for pronouncing long words."

"Dos Santos has a knack for goals on the big stage – he scored against Holland in last year’s World Cup."

snob

snob

snob    [snob]

noun.  a person who believes himself or herself 1) an expert in a given field, or 2) belongs to a superior social class and look down others

"wine snob, music snob, television snob, gaming snob..."

"Athens used to be a tough place for coffee snobs. But now you can revel in a perfect cup like Kageyo Cooperative Rwandan coffee. "

"Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a snob, but she's doing just fine."

"Many luxury brands are now ubiquitous, robing them of their snob value."

reticent

reticent    [Ret-uh-suh nt]

adjective. not revealing one's thoughts or feeling readily; reserved

"J.K. Rowling was reticent about sharing too many details about the first stage play of Harry Potter in her Twitter announcement."
"Hillary Clinton has been reticent in endorsing the $15-an-hour minimum wage, even as she has indicated some support for the effort."
"The boy, usually one of the most outspoken kids in the class, has been uncharacteristically reticent to talk about the incident."

dwarf

dwarf    [dwawrf]

verb.  to cause to seem small or insignificant in comparison

"On Tuesday NASA shared a new blue marble image of a fully illuminated earth. The image shows that the oceans dwarf the continents."
"The research investment in Alzheimer’s disease is currently dwarfed by spending on heart disease and cancer."
"LeBron James dwarfed all other players in athletic ability."

rebuke

rebuke    [ri-Byook]

verb. to express sharp disapproval or criticism

"Nobody likes to hear himself ridiculed, criticized, scolded or even mildly rebuked, even when he deserves it. It's part of being human. The First Lady is no different. Michele Obama recently told a story to a high school graduating class how tough the life of a President's wife can be."

"Donald Trump was questioning Senator John McCain's heroism as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.  Hillary Clinton rebuked Donald Trump for insulting 'a genuine war hero.'"

"Google said a hacking attack to its Gmail service in June may have come from China. This was drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing."

purport

purport     [per-Pawrt]

verb.  to claim, often falsely 

"Georgia left the Union and joined the Confederate States of America in 1861, and released a statement devoted to the purported right of white people to own black people."

"Real scientists and medical professionals have been unambiguous on this -- the purported danger of childhood vaccines are lies."

"This JFK book is a novel and does not purport to solve any mysteries surrounding the killing of JFK."

culminate

culminate    [Kuhl-muh-neyt]

verb.  to reach the highest point or development stage

"The Iran Nuclear Deal culminates 20 months of negotiations on an agreement that President Obama has long sought as the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency."
"3D films became more and more successful in the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of movie Avatar in 2009."
"The goal of the New York Giants every year is to have the season culminate in a Super Bowl victory."

riveting

riveting     [Rivit-ing]

adjective.  very interesting, holding attention 

"Today, NASA reveals the second riveting shot of a tiny portion of Pluto.  The image, taken by the New Horizons spacecraft, was the first high-quality shot the world has ever seen of Pluto."

"LeBron James, the polarizing two-time champion, is one of the most riveting and scrutinized players in professional sports."

"The movie is so riveting that not even free popcorn refills can lure you away."

falter

falter    [Fawl-ter]

verb.   start to lose strength or momentum; waver; wobble; hesitate 

"The smoking rates are increasing in both poor and rich countries.  In several rich countries such as Germany and France, after  years of decline, the trend has recently reversed or faltered."

"The steel demand in North America has faltered this year, after a strong growth in demand last year."

"Puerto Rico's economy began to falter with the recession caused by the oil crisis of the 1970s."

fortitude

fortitude    [Fawr-to-tyood]

noun.  mental strength in facing difficulty or adversity 

"We have the fortitude to heal, the imagination to inspire and the determination to revive our American dream." -- Ben Carson, Republican presidential candidate

"Leaders with fortitude stay calm in the storm during bad times, and they stayed grounded during good times."

"The little girl endured her illness with great fortitude."

dis

dis    [dis]

verb.  to show disrespect to; insult

"When people dis the government - we're really dissing ourselves and dissing our democracy." -- Hillary Clinton

"Demi Lovato denied dissing Ariana Grande during her MLB all star performance."

"In his encyclical, the pope is seriously dissing climate-change deniers."

flounder

flounder     [Floun-der]

verb.  to struggle clumsily; wobble around

"Microsoft announced it would cut 7,800 jobs, largely in the phone business, which has floundered beneath the dominance of Apple's iPhones and the smartphones powered by Google's Android"
"Greece's economy is floundering in the swamp of depression, barely holding in the Eurozone."
"The boy is floundering about in the water."

A flounder is also a bottom-dwelling fish with both eyes on one side of its head.  "A flounder would flounder with both eyes on one side while swimming."

pivotal

pivotal    [Piv-uh-tl]

adjective.  of crucial importance, determining the future direction or turning point of something

"Thomas Jefferson played a pivotal role in the establishment of American equality."
"Chinese and American officials are meeting now at the State Department for a two-day talk.  It is clear that the relationship between the world's two most powerful countries has reached a pivotal moment."
"Antoine Vermette has scored four pivotal goals for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with three of them being game-winners."

reverberate

reverberate    [re-Vur-bur-reyt]

verb.  (of sound or light) reecho; (of the impact of an event) continuing to have serious effects

"If Greece goes bankrupt and leaves the 19-nation eurozone, the situation could destabilize the region and reverberate around the globe."
"On June 28 2015, an unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket laden with 4,0000-pound cargo exploded just minutes after liftoff.  It was the third, and the second in a row, cargo mission to the space station to have a catastrophic failure since last October. It instantly reverberated across the U.S. space community."
"The 2008 Lehman Brothers mortgage crisis in the US reverberated throughout the world, causing a global recession."

curb

curb    [kurb]

verb.  restrain or hold back; check

"The future self-driving taxis could help curb global warning because each taxi is 'right-sized' for each trip. One- or two-seat taxis would satisfy most trips and reduce emissions significantly."
"The United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia want to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief."
"China's president, Xi Jinping, told in a government meeting that China's young rich must curb their hedonistic and extravagant lifestyles."

don

don

verb.  put on (an item of clothing)

"Jordan Spieth realized his childhood ambition of donning the green jacket after he won Masters at Augusta on Sunday." 

"Getting cyclists to don a hard-shelled helmet, which can lessen the risks of serious injury, has been a global challenge."

"In the locker room the players donned their football jerseys before the game."

groove

groove     [groov]

noun.  a perfectly functioning order; a long cut

"Obama gets his groove back after last weeks' wins on health care, same-sex marriage and trade."
"As the game went on, the pitcher started to find his groove and pitched well enough to win."
"A long-distance runner usually takes a few miles to get into his or her groove."

testy

testy    [Tes-tee]

adjective.  easily irritated or annoyed; impatient

"On Tuesday Caroline Wozniacki became testy with an Italian reporter in her post-match news conference at Wimbledon.  The same question was asked again and the Denmark's tennis star was very impatient with her answer."
 "Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka had a testy exchange of words over a disputed line call during their third round match of the French Open." "Presidential campaigns are exhausting and frustrating events, and there are times when voters and reporters probably warrant a testy response."

complacent

complacent    [kuh m-Pley-suh nt]

adjective.  overly content or pleased with oneself 

"Complacency is the enemy of change, and we already have enough complacent people in power."

"World Bank moved Bangladesh up to a 'lower-middle income' country based on its increased income per capita. However, the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, is not complacent. She wants Bangladesh to be a 'higher-middle income' country within three years."

"He had grown complacent after years of success."

juggernaut

juggernaut    [Juhg-er-nawt]

noun.  a massive, overpowering force

"India Prime Minister Modi is a foreign policy juggernaut. He has visited eighteen countries during his first year in office."

"Apple and Google are now the juggernauts that define the landscape of consumer technology."

"Nike started by selling shoes out of a car trunk. It is now a $30 billion juggernaut."

kibosh

kibosh    [Kahy-bosh]

noun.  put an end to

"Europe is putting the kibosh on roaming charges starting mid-2017.  Europeans will no longer need to pay roaming charges if they make mobile phone calls within the European Union."
"Nintendo is putting the kibosh on rumors that its next gaming console will run on the Android operating system from Google.  A Nintendo official is making it clear that the new system, NX, will not run Android."
"The recession put the kibosh on browsing, and mall traffic sharply declined."

sever

sever    [Sev-er]

verb.  break up (a relationship, tie), separate (a part) from a whole

"On Monday NBCUniversal severed its relationship with Donald Trump following his comments on Mexican immigrants.  On Tuesday, Macy's also severed its relationship with the brash President candidate."
"In baseball, we have seen increasing number of injuries in young pitchers in recent years.  In the past, a doctor may have been telling a pitcher they were going to sever his throwing arm. Pitchers should throw less."
"The family is heartbroken after they found their pet goat's severed head in their garden."