Word - 60

EXASPERATE \ig-ZAS-puh-rayt\ verb

1 : to excite the anger of : enrage
*2 : to cause irritation or annoyance to

Example sentence:
Our former neighbors' habit of throwing loud parties that lasted late into the night thoroughly exasperated us.

Did you know?

"Exasperate" hangs with a rough crowd. It derives from "exasperatus," the past participle of the Latin verb "exasperare," which in turn was formed by combining "ex-" with "asper," meaning "rough." Another descendant of "asper" in English is "asperity," which can refer to the roughness of a surface or the roughness of someone's temper. Another relative, albeit a distant one, is the English word "spurn," meaning "to reject."

Word - 59

BUMPTIOUS \BUMP-shus\ adjective

: presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive

: obtrusive

Example sentence:

"I wish the DJs on this station weren't so bumptious," said Andrea. "I'd prefer to just listen to the music."

Did you know?

Etymologists believe that "bumptious" was probably coined, perhaps playfully, from the noun "bump" plus "-tious." When "bumptious" was first used around 1800, it meant "self-conceited." Charles Dickens used it that way in David Copperfield: "His hair was very smooth and wavy; but I was informed ... that it was a wig ... and that he needn't be so 'bounceable' -- somebody else said 'bumptious' -- about it, because his own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind."