vocab level g units 1-3

acquisitive

adj. able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property.

syn: greedy, grasping, avaricious, retentive.

ant: altruistic, unretentive

arrogate

v. to claim or take without right

syn: expropriate, usurp, commandeer

ant: relinquish, renounce, abdicate, abandon

banal

adj. hackneyed, trite, commonplace

syn: stale, insipid

ant: fresh, novel, original, new

belabor

v. to work on excessively; to thrash soundly

syn: overwork

carping

adj: tending to find fault, esp in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way. n: petty, nagging criticism

syn: nit-picking, caviling

adj: approving, uncritical

coherent

adj. holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

syn: connected, unified, consistent, cohesive

ant: muddled, chaotic, disjointed

congeal

v. to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid

syn: harden, jell, coagulate, solidify

ant: melt, liquefy

emulate

v. to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

syn: copy, mimic, rival, match, measure up tp

encomium

n. a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute

syn: panegyric, eulogy, commendation

ant: condemnation, castigation, criticism

eschew

v. to avoid, shun, keep away from

syn: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo

ant: embrace, adopt

germane

adj: relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

syn: pertinent

ant: irrelevant, extraneous, inappropriate

insatiable

adj. so great or demanding as not to be saitisfied

syn: unquenchable, ravenous, voracious

intransigent

adj. refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

syn: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate

ant: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding

invidious

adj. offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness amd resentment

syn: malicious, spiteful, prejudicial, pejorative

ant: complimentary, flattering, ameliorative

largesse

n. generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions

syn: liberality, munificence, bounty

ant: stinginess, miserliness, niggardliness

reconnaisaance

n. a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

syn: scouting expedition

substantiate

v. to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to

syn: verify, confirm, validate, authenticate

ant: refute, disprove, invalidate

taciturn

adj. habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

syn: tight-lipped, uncommunicative, laconic

ant: garrulous, loquacious, prolix, verbose

temporize

v. to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postponse a decision; to compromise

syn: hedge, dillydally, procrastinate

tenable

adj. capable of being held or defended

syn: defensible, justifiable, maintainable

ant: indefensible, unjustifiable

accost

v. to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

syn: buttonhole, approach, confront

ant: evade, avoid, shun

animadversion

n. a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

syn: rebuke, reproof

ant: praise, compliment

avid

adj. desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

syn: keen, enthusiastic, grasping

ant: reluctant, indifferent, unenthousiastic

brackish

adj. having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

syn: briny, saline

ant: fresh, clear, sweet

celerity

n. swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

syn: promptness, alacrity, speed

ant: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

devious

adj. straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

syn: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful

ant: direct, straighforward, open, aboveboard

gambit

n. in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifices of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

syn: ploy, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

halcyon

n. a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; adj. of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

syn: tranquil, serene, placid, palmy

ant: trubulent, chaotic, tumultuous

histrionic

adj. pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

syn: affected, stagy

ant: low-keyed, muted, untheatrical, subdued

incendiary

adj. deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; n. one who deliberateky sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife

syn: inflammatory, provocative, firebrand

ant: soothing, quieting, peacemaker

maelstrom

n. a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

syn: vortex, chaos, trubulence, tumult

myopic

adj. nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic, view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

syn: shortsighted

ant: farsighted

overt

adj. open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

syn: clear, obvious, manifest, patent

ant: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed

pejorative

adj. tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogative, deprecatory, belittling

ant: complimentary, ameliorative

propriety

n. the state of being proper, appropriateness; pl. standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

syn: fitness, correctness, decorum

ant: unseemliness, inappropriateness

sacrilege

n. improper or disrepectful treatment of something held sacred

syn: desecration, profanation, defilement

summarily

adv. without delay/formality; briefly, concisely

syn. promptly, peremptorily, abruptly

suppliant

adj. asking humbly and earnestly; n. one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

talisman

n. an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

undulate

v. to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

syn: ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall

articulate

v. to pronounce distinctly; to express well in words; to connect by a joint or joints; adj. expressed clearly and forcefully; able to employ language clearly and forcefully; jointed

syn: pronounce, elucidate, eloquent

ant: mumble, slur, tongue-tied, halting

cavort

v. to romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry

syn: gambol

credence

n. belief, mental acceptance

syn: credit, trust, confidence

ant: disbelief, skepticism, incredulity

decry

v. to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate

syn: denounce, censure, devalue

ant: tout, commend, extol, laud, praise

dissemble

v. to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

syn: dissimulate, mask, feign

distraught

adj. very much agitated or upset as a result of emotion or mental conflict

syn: frantic, distraced

ant: calm, composed, collected

eulogy

n. a formal statement of commendation; high praise

syn: panegyric, encomium, tribute, testimonial

ant: philippic, diatribe, invective

evince

v. to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

syn: to exhibit, manifest, occasion

exhume

v. to remove from a grave, to bring to light

syn: disinter, unearth, uncover

ant: bury, inter

feckless

adj. lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsable, unreliable

syn: feeble, helpless, incomptent, ineffectual

ant: competent, capable, effective

murky

adj. dark and gloomy, abscure; lacking in clarity and precision

syn: dim, cloudy, unclear

ant: clear, transparent, lucid, limpid

nefarious

adj. wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

syn: iniquitous, reprehensible

ant: virtuous, honorable, praiseworthy, meritorious

piquant

adj. stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative

syn: tangy, zestful

ant: bland. insipid, tasteless, mild

primordial

adj. developed or created at the very beginning; going back to the most ancient times or earliest stage; fundamental, basic

syn: original, primeval, primal

propinquity

n. nearness in place or time; kinship

syn: proximity, similarity

any: remoteness. distance

unwonted

adj. not usual or expected; not in character

syn: unusual, uncommon, unexpected, atypical

ant: usual, customary, typical

utopian

adj. founded upon or involving a visionary view fo an ideal world; impractical

syn: idealistic

ant: realistic, pragmatic

verbiage

n. language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense of content, wordiness; a manner of expression

syn: verbosity, prolixity, diction, jargon

verdant

adj. greenish; immature in experience or judgment

syn: artless, naive

ant: scorched, sere, barren, arid

viscous

adj. having a gelatinous or gluey quality, lacking in easy movement or fluidity

syn: gummy, sticky, thick

ant: runny, watery, aqueous