Vocabulary (Week 6 of 6)

Cathartic


source sentence: "Hundreds of students at high schools from Newton, Mass., to Palo Alto, Calif., have created cathartic "Wall of Shame" or "Rejection Wall" displays of college denial letters."

context clues: "Wall of Shame", "Rejection Wall", " denial"

definition: evacuating the bowels; purgative.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Cathartic

original sentence: The cathartic picture was just as greusome as a movie by Rob Zombie.


Missives


source sentence: "On message boards at CollegeConfidential.com, students critique, attack and praise missives from various schools, elevating rejection-letter reviews to a sideline sport."

context clues: "praise", "attack", "rejection-letter"

definition: 1.a written message; letter. 2.sent or about to be sent, esp. of a letter from an official source.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Missives

original sentence: The missives at the office were rude and not inspiring to us at all as workers.


Steely


source sentence: "Stanford University sends a steely "don't call us" message embedded in its otherwise gentle rejection letter."

context clues: "don't call us", "gentle rejection", "message"

definition: resembling or suggesting steel, as in color, strength, or hardness.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Steely

original sentence: The woman displayed a will, steely in might she was.