Sentence:  The girls <WSD>are</WSD> prone to dress far more flamboyantly than their counterparts out of town , and eye shadow , mascara , and elaborate bouffant hairdos - despite the admonitions of cautious guidance personnel - are not unknown even in early morning classes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)