Unit 20

UNIT 20 WORD LIST absurd If something or someone is absurd, they are ridiculous. That group of people making animal noises sounds completely absurd. aristocracy The aristocracy is the highest class of people in certain societies. Most members of the aristocracy were very well fed. aristocrat An aristocrat is a person who is of the highest class in certain societies. The aristocrat did not need a job because his family was wealthy. attire Attire is nice or special clothing. Everyone wore their best attire to the president's daughter's wedding. craze A craze is a brief and popular activity or object. Wearing bright red socks was a craze when I was in high school. denote When one thing denotes another, it stands as a sign or substitute for that thing. Quotation marks are used to denote speech. enlarge To enlarge something means to make it bigger. The classrooms were enlarged over the summer to make room for more students. excess An excess is an amount of something that is more than needed or wanted. Because it never got cold that winter, many stores had an excess of coats. feminine If something is feminine, then it has qualities that are commonly related to women. Many of the older people thought his long hair made him look too feminine. hierarchy A hierarchy is a system of things or people ranked one above the other. Everyone knows where they fit in the hierarchy.

pad A pad is a thick piece of soft material used to protect or clean things. Football players wear shoulder pads to keep them safe. partner Your partner is someone who lives or works with you as an equal. Ladies and gentlemen, take your partners for the next dance. predominant If something is predominant, then it is the most important, common, or strongest. Before cars were invented, horses were the predominant method of travel. protocol Protocol is a system of rules and customs that guides how things are done. The introduction of the guests followed the normal protocol. reputable If someone or something is reputable, then they have a good reputation. The service from the less-than-reputable company made her angry. signify To signify means to be a symbol of something. A red octagon is used to signify a place to stop. strap A strap is a thin long piece of fabric used to fasten, carry, or hold something. She put the strap of her purse over her shoulder and walked out the door. style Your style is the way you do things. Her clothes were all in the latest style. tangle A tangle is something or many things twisted together. The laces of his shoes were in such a tangle that he could not untie them. vanity Vanity is excessive pride or love of one's own appearance or things one has done. Her vanity won't allow her to pass a mirror without looking at herself.

Dressed to Excess If you traveled back in time to the 1700s in Europe, you would laugh when you saw how the aristocracy dressed. Soon you'd realize, though, that the aristocrats of Europe were very serious about their appearance. Their appearance was one way of denoting their rank in the social hierarchy. The predominant style in women's attire was enormous dresses. They were often three times larger than the wearer. Ladies even used pads to enlarge the appearance of their hips and shoulders. On the other extreme, the aristocratic women made their waists appear extremely thin. It took several maids stretching fabric and pulling straps in order to get a lady's waist to the proper thinness. These ladies could barely breathe and often fainted. Pale skin was also a craze, yet this too was done in excess. One could not simply be pale. Instead, she needed to look as if she was ill. In order to look paler, ladies actually cut themselves daily, so they would bleed. The hairstyles, however, were the most striking part of women's fashion. These stood a meter high on the ladies' heads. The columns of hair were a ridiculous tangle of wigs, jewels, flowers, and even stuffed birds. Their partners, the men, were similarly absurd. Today, they would probably seem very feminine. Reputable men wore wigs of long curly hair. Their shoes had large soles or high heels so that they could walk high above the filth on the streets. Furthermore, just like the ladies, the men wore lipstick and painted their cheeks red. Their clothes were brightly colored, often purple and pink. They were made from the finest of fabrics and decorated with jewels and lace. The men competed with one another to see who wore the more expensive clothes, for the clothing signified wealth and status. Both men and women spent huge amounts of money and time on how they looked but it was part of the protocol they were expected to follow. Though such vanity would seem strange today, three hundred years from now, the fashions of our time might also seem completely ridiculous.