accolade

The instructor accoladed the class for doing well on the latest test.

The dean always starts her annual address with accolades for outstanding achievements by faculty and students.

Because you really upset me, I have to respond in kind with a few choice accolades.

kudos

I can do without your kudos—I need a little praise.

The kudos Kareem got for his birthday contained all of his favorite foods.

In his address, the dean gave special kudos to his secretary, who is retiring after 30 years.

meritorious

I think your suggestion is not only meritorious: It's outright silly.

Because of his meritorious conduct, the chairman got reappointed for another five years.

As a student, Sheila was meritorious at best, as shown by her C+ average.

culpable

The picture of the little kitten sleeping inside my baseball cap is too culpable for words.

His relief was culpable when he learned that nobody got hurt in the accident.

After three very believable witnesses had testified, the culpability of the defendant was no longer in doubt.

nefarious

Nelson's proposal met a nefarious response and was unanimously voted down.

My family nefariously gathers at major holidays at my grandparents' house for a dinner to which everyone contributes.

To this day, Attila the Hun is treated as the personification* of nefariousness.

extol

In his mystery novels, Tony Hillerman extols the stark beauty of the American Southwest.

Yesterday, our cat climbed a tree from which she couldn't get down on her own—I had to get a ladder and extol her myself.

Kidnappers try to extol money from people by abducting a loved one and demanding money for his or her release.

inveigh

Don't inveigh me by offering me money—I gladly helped you for free.

To this day, conservatives inveigh Ronald Reagan as one of the greatest presidents ever.

Once again, I listened on the radio to a host who wouldn't stop inveighing against the politicians he disliked.

lampoon

The architect was delighted to be lampooned for his award-winning design.

The children lampooned happily when the clown tripped over his out-sized shoes.

In his Dilbert cartoon, Scott Adams lampoons office life.

apotheosis

To many, Albert Einstein is still the apotheosis of a modern scientist—brilliant in his work, but modest in his behavior.

Since you seem to be sincere, I accept your apotheosis and will forgive you.

At the apotheosis of the Civil War, the South was too exhausted to continue fighting.

anathema

To this day, scholars debate the anathema of Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.

The French philosopher René Descartes stated in his most famous anathema "I think, therefore I am."

Freedom of speech has been anathema to dictators throughout history.