Vocabulary list for D 1009

ABANDON: To give up completely - abandoned the sinking ship.

Synonyms: relinquish, forgo, forsake

ABRIDGE: To shorten - abridged his lengthy speech.

Synonyms: curtail, diminish, retrench

Anthonyms: protract, elongate, amplify

ACADEMIC: Pertaining to school; theoretical academic interests; an academic discussion, with no practical implications.

Synonym: scholastic

ACCELERATE: - To quicken, speed tip - took an accelerated course in order to graduate early.

Synonym: expedite (adj. expeditious)

Antonym: retard

ACCORD: Agreement or harmony - in full accord with his view.

Synonyms: concord, concurrence

Antonyms:dissension, discord

ADVERSARY: (adj.: ADVERSE): An opponent - his adversary in a bitter debate.

Synonym:antagonist

Antonyms:cohort, confederate, ally, accomplice

AESTHETIC: Pertaining to the beautiful - interested in aesthetic values rather than in purely practical affairs.

ALIENATE: To estrange - altenated by his gruff manner.

AMBIGUOUS: Uncertain, vague, capable of being inter- in more than one way - puzzled by the ambiguous statement.

Synonyms:hazy, obscure, equivocal, dubious, nebulous

Antonyms:explicit, unquestionable

ANALOGY (adj.: ANALOGOUS): A relation between two things shown in the resemblance not of the things themselves but of their characteristics- He indicated points of analogy between the two situations.

Synonyms:correspondence, affinity

Antonym: anomaly (a deviation from the general rule)

ANTITHESIS (adj.: ANTITHETICAL): Contrast; the direct opposite - His selfish attitude seemed to me the antithesis o patriotism.

APPREHENSIVE (verb: APPREHEND): Fearful - Being unprepared, John is apprehensive of the examination.

APT (noun: APTITUDE, APTNESS):

(1) Likely; inclined or disposed - apt to succeed. Synonym: prone

(2) Fit, suitable - an apt remark.

Synonyms: appropriate, felicitous

(3) Skillful, expert - apt at woodcarving.

Synonyms: deft, dextrous, adept. Antonym: inept

ARTICULATE (verb): To speak clearly or distinctly - articulated slowly so that he could not be misunderstood.

(adj.): Capable of speech; distinct, clear – an articulate man, always ready to give his views.

ATTRIBUTE (verb): Assign -attributed his success to bard work.

Synonym: ascribe

(noun): An inherent quality -Generosity was his outstanding attribute.

AUGMENT: To increase or enlarge - an army augmented by numerous enlistments.

Synonyms: enhance, amplify - Antonyms: abate, curtail

BENEVOLENT: Kindly; charitable - like a benevolent monarch, bestowing many favors.

Synonyms: benign, benignant, gracious, magnanimous

Antonyms: malevolent, malignant

BIZARRE: Queer; unusual in appearance- bizarre clothes, outlandish in the extreme.

Synonyms:odd, fantastic, grotesque, eccentric

CANDID (noun: CANDOR): Frank, outspoken; impartial a candid reply that could hardly be more forthright.

Synonyms: artless, ingenuous, unbiased

Antonyms: guileful, evasive

CIRCUMSPECT: Cautious - looked about him circumspectly.

Synonyms:prudent, vigilant, discreet, wary

Antonyms:rash, indiscreet, reckless, precipitate, foothardy, temerarious, headstrong

COMPATIBLE: Harmonious; able, to get along together parted company because they were not compatible.

Synonyms: congruous, consistent

Antonyms: incongruous, discordant, incompatible

CONCEDE: To yield; to admit as true; to grant - conceded victory to a superior force.

Synonyms: acquiesce, capitulate

CONGENIAL:

(1) Possessing similar interests and tastes; able to get on well with others - congenial people with similar backgrounds.

Synonym: compatible

(2) Agreeable - congenial to his taste.

CREDIBLE: Worthy of belief - a credible story, true to life.

Antonym: incredible

CRUCIAL: Decisive or critical; difficult - the crucial event that decided the outcome.

CRYPTIC: Containing hidden meaning - a cryptic message, difficult to decipher.

Synonyms: occult, enigmatic

Antonyms: palpable, manifest

CYNICAL: Sneeringly distrustful of the good motives or conduct of others - belittled the hero with a cynical remark.

Synonyms: sarcastic, surly

DEPRAVED: Of low morals; corrupt - a depraved mind, devising evil.

Synonyms: debased, wicked, vicious, perverted

DEVASTATION: Widespread ruin - the city left in utter devastation by war.

Synonyms: destruction, desolation

DEVIOUS:

(1) Winding; indirect - took a devious, rather than the direct way home.

Synonym: circuitous

(2) Straying from the right course - used devious means to attain his wicked ends.

Synonyms: crooked, erring

DEVOID: Lacking in; not possessing - a speech devoid of even a trace of ill-will.

Synonym: destitute

Antonyms: abounding, prevalent

DEVOUT: Devoted to religious observances - devout in his regularity of attendance at worship.

Synonyms: pious, religious

Antonym: impious

DICTUM: Art authoritative statement; a saying-an imperial dictum demanding instant compliance.

DILEMMA: A situation calling for a choice between two equally difficult alternatives; hence, a difficult or perplexing situation - faced with a dilemma defying solution.

Synonyms:predicament, quandary, plight

DISCOURSE: To converse or talk; to discuss - discoursed at length on the rise of political parties.

DISCRETE: Separate - two discrete issues, totally unrelated.

DISCURSIVE: Rambling from one subject to another - a discursive letter, covering many topics.

Synonyms:desultory, digressive

DISSENT (noun: DISSENSION): To disagree; to differ in opinion - He dissented violently, rejecting compromise.

ELUCIDATE: To make clear; to explain - elucidatedhis theory so that even a schoolboy could understand it.

Synonym: clarify

EPIGRAM: A brief pointed saying - a speech full of original epigrams.

Synonyms: maxim proverb, adage

EXEMPLARY (noun: EXEMPLAR): Serving as a model; commendable - exemplary conduct approved by all.

Synonyms: illustrative, typical; praiseworthy, laudable

EXTRANEOUS. Not essential; foreign; irrelevant - excluded material extraneous to the subject.

Synonyms: extrinsic, adventitious

Antonyms: germane, intrinsic, inherent, relevant, pertinent

FALLACIOUS (noun: FALLACY): Unsound; misleading; deceptive - led astray by fallacious reasoning and plans.

FICTITIOUS: Unreal; made-up - used a fictitious name to avoid being recognized.

Synonym: fabricated

FLUCTUATE: To waver from one course to another; to vary irregularly - his mood fluctuating with every hour.

Synonyms: oscillate, vacillate, undulate, sway

FORBEAR (noun: FORBEARANCE): To exercise self control; to keep from - forbearing to shoot the animal despite temptation.

Synonyms: restrain, abstain

GENEALOGY: A record of a person's or a family's ancestors or relatives - an interesting genealogy, including saints and sinners.

Synonym: lineage

GENESIS: Origin - chemistry, which had its genesis in alchemy.

Synonym: inception

HAUGHTY: Proud; looking down with contempt on others - dismissed the messenger in a haughty manner.

HEEDLESS: Thoughtless; taking little care - rushed into battle, heedless of the danger.

Synonyms: inadvertent, rash, incautious

Antonyms: prudent, circumspect, mindful, wary

HIATUS: A gap or vacancy; break -left a hiatus on the page where he erased a sentence.

Synonym:breach

HOMONYM: Two words having the same sound but different meanings - confusing such homonyms as mail add male.

HYPOTHESIS: An assumption made for the sake of argument - worked from a fantastic hypothesis.

Synonym: supposition

IDIOSYNCRASY: A. personal peculiarity - Wearing white was one of Whistler's idiosyncrasies.

Synonyms: eccentricity, foible, mannerism, crotchet, aberration, quirk, singularity

IMMINENT: Likely to occur soon - stood in imminent peril.

Synonym: impending

IMPLICIT:

(1) Implied but not clearly expressed - an implicit agreement.

(2) Unquestioning - implicit confidence.

Synonyms: tacit, implied

Antonym: explicit

INCISIVE: Cutting, penetrating - incisive criticism.

Synonyms: sarcastic, mordant, trenchant, acute

INCOGNITO. With one's identity concealed - traveled incognito.

INDIGENOUS: Native - Rice is indigenous to China.

Synonyms:innate, inborn

INDOOMITABLE: Stubborn in determination not to be subdued - indomitable courage.

Synonyms:insuperable, irrepressible, invincible, unyielding

Antonyms:tractable, amenable, docile, submissive

INFERENCE: A conclusion reached by reasoning from data or premises - an inference drawn from his remarks.

Synonyms:deduction, implication

INSCRUTABLE: Incapable of interpretation or understanding - the inscrutable smile of the Mona Lisa.

Synonyms: unfathomable, cryptic, enigmatic

JARGON: Confused, unintelligible, meaningless talk; special vocabulary used only by members of a group or trade - Variety, a newspaper written in theatrical jargon.

Synonyms: gibberish, argot, cant

LATENT: Hidden; present but not fully developed - latent talent that time will reveal.

Synonyms:dormant, quiescent, covert, potential

Antonyms:apparent, patent

MACHIAVELLIAN: Sacrificing moral principles in order to attain power; politically cunning; crafty - a machiavellian design, wickedly contrived.

Synonym: unscrupulous

MALICIOUS (noun: MALICE): Bearing, or acting with, deliberate ill-will or spite - hurting with malicious intent.

Synonyms:rancorous, malignant, malevolent, virulent, vindictive

Antonym: benign

MEDIOCRE: Average in quality - a mediocre performance, unworthy of his talents.

MERCENARY: Acting solely from a consideration of reward or profit - actuated by a mercenary motive.

Synonym: venal

MUNDANE: Of, or pertaining to, the world, as contrasted with the spirit - mundane affairs.

Synonyms:earthly, terrestrial, secular, temporal

NONCHALANT: Unmoved or indifferent; casual - reacted to the news in a nonchalant manner.

Synonym: apathetic

Antonyms: enthusiastic, zealous

NOTORIOUS: Widely known (in a bad sense) - a notorious gambler.

OBSOLETE: No longer in use - an obsolete word, not even included by most dictionaries.

Synonyms:archaic, antiquated

OSTENSIBLE: Apparent; pretended - his ostensible, though not actual, purpose.

Synonyms:professed, plausible (that is, appearing true, reasonable, or fair), specious

PARAPHRASE: To restate the meaning of a passage in other words - paraphrased the poem in a few lines of prose.

PRESUMPTION:

(1) Something taken for granted - acted on a reasonable presumption.

(2) Going beyond proper bounds; impudent boldness - His question was downright presumption.

Synonyms: effrontery, forwardness, arrogance

PROVISIONAL: Temporary; for the time being - a provisional plan until a permanent decision is reached.

Synonym:tentative

PSEUDONYM: A false name assumed by a writer - concealed his identity by a pseudonym.

Synonyms:alias, pen name, nom de plume

RAMIFICATION: A branching; sub-division - studied the subject in all its ramifications.

RECAPITULATE: To restate in a brief, concise form; to sum up - recapitulated the main ideas.

RECIPROCAL: Mutual; done in return for something received - held each other in reciprocal esteem.

REFUTE: To prove incorrect or false-refuted his opponent's argument.

Synonyms:rebut, confute

Antonyms: substantiate, confirm, corroborate

RESENTMENT: Feeling of displeasure or indignation resulting from mistreatment or abuse - showed resentment at what he considered an unwarranted insult.

Synonyms: umbrage, dudgeon, animosity

SCRUTINIZE: To examine carefully -scrutinized the contents of the letter.

SPORADIC: Occurring singly, at irregular intervals; scattered - sporadic cases of illness.

STOIC: Indifferent, calm in bearing pain or pleasure; practising remarkable self-control over emotions - maintained a stoic attitude despite all his trials.

Synonyms: stolid, impassive

TANGIBLE: Real; actual - tangible gains which may be seen. and counted.

Synonyms: material, veritable, perceptible, substantial

TEMPORAL: Worldly, as opposed to spiritual; existing for a time only - a man preoccupied with temporal matters.

Synonyms: mundane, secular, civil

TENET: A principle of belief held as true - a tenet of religion which be maintained loyally.

Synonyms: creed, doctrine, dogma

VERSATILE: Able to do many things skillfully - versatile in all the arts.

WHIM (adj.: WHIMSICAL): A sudden notion or passing fancy -frequently acted on the whim of the moment.

Synonyms: caprice, vagary, crotchet

ZEALOUS (noun: ZEALOT: fanatic): Full of enthusiasm or eagerness -a zealous student, first in his class.

Antonym: perfunctory

ZENITH: The highest point - the zenith of his career.

Synonyms: acme, apex, culmination, summit

Antonym: nadir