ap lit - winter exam

acquisitive

acquisitive

(adj)

greedy; good at getting/ keeping info

syn: grasping, avaricious, retentive

ant: altruistic, unretentive

banal

(adj)

common; stale

syn: insipid

ant: fresh, novel, original, new

belabor

(v)

to overwork

coherent

(adj)

connected

syn: unified, consistent, cohesive

ant: muddled, chaotic, disjointed

emulate

(v)

to copy to surpass

syn: mimic, rival, match, measure up to

eschew

(v)

to shun

syn: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo

ant: embrace, adopt

germane

(adj)

relative, fitting

syn: pertinent

ant: irrelevant, extraneous, inappropriate

insatiable

(adj)

unquenchable

syn: ravenous, voracious

substantiate

(v)

to prove

syn: verify, confirm, validate, authenticate

ant: refute, disprove, invalidate

tenable

(adj)

defensible

syn: justifiable, maintainable

ant: indefensible, unjustifiable

accost

(v)

to approach; challenge

syn: buttonhole, confront

ant: evade, avoid, shun

brackish

(adj)

unpleasant to drink

syn: briny, saline

ant: fresh, clear, sweet

celerity

(n)

swiftness; rapid action

syn: proptness, alacrity, speed

ant: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

gambit

(n)

risky chess move

syn: ploy, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

halcyon

(n) legendary bird

(adj) peaceful; affluent

syn: tranquil, serene, placid, palmy

ant: turbulent, chaotic, tumultuous

incendiary

(adj) setting fires

(n) arsonist

syn: inflammatory, provocative, firebrand

ant: soothing, quieting, peacemaker

myopic

(adj)

shortsighted; closed-minded

ant: farsighted

overt

(adj)

open; easily recognized

syn: clear, obvious, manifest, patent

ant: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed

sacrilege

(n)

disrespectful to sacred people/ objects

syn: desecration, profanation, defilement

undulate

(v)

to move in a wavelike motion

syn: ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall

credence

(n)

trust; credit

syn: confidence, belief

ant: disbelief, skepticism, incredulity

decry

(v)

denounce

syn: condemn, depreciate, censure, devalue

ant: tout, commend, extol, laud, praise

distraught

(adj)

upset

syn: frantic, distracted, agitated

ant: calm, composed, collected

evince

(v)

to exhibit

syn: display, manifest, occasion, provoke

feckless

(adj)

lacking in spiritual strength

syn: feeble, helpless, incompetent, ineffectual, unreliable

ant: competent, capable, effective

nefarious

(adj)

wicked

syn: iniquitous, reprehensible

ant: virtuous, honorable, praiseworthy, meritorious

primordial

(adj)

beginning/ original

syn: primeval, primal, fundamental, basic

propinquity

(n)

proximity/ similarity

syn: kinship ant: remoteness, distance

verbiage

(n)

wordy

syn: verbosity, prolixity, diction, jargon

viscous

(adj)

thick

syn: gummy, sticky, gelatinous

ant: runny, watery, aqueous

atrophy

(n) (v)

to waste away

syn: degeneration, deterioration, wither

ant: growth, development, mature, develop

bastion

(n)

fortified place

syn: citadel, rampart, bulwark, parapet, stronghold

consummate

(adj) (v)

to complete; to perfect

syn: masterful, clinch, conclude

ant: launch, initiate, begin, kick off

exigency

(n)

urgency

syn: requirement, crisis, pressure, demand, pressing need, emergency

glean

(v)

gather bit by bit

syn: collect, cull, pick up

incumbent

(adj) (n)

required; holds a specific office

syn: mandatory, necessary, obligatory

ant: optional, unnecessary

ludicrous

(adj)

ridiculous

syn: risible, preposterous, laughable, absurd

ant: heartbreaking, poignant, pathetic

mordant

(adj)

harsh; bitterly sarcastic

syn: acrimonious, acidulous, sardonic, scathing, caustic

ant: bland, mild, gentle, soothing

pusillanimous

(adj)

cowardly; mean

syn: craven, lily-livered

ant: stouthearted, courageous, daring

stratagem

(n)

scheme to outwit/ decieve

syn: ruse, trick, ploy, subterfuge

acuity

(n)

sharpness of mind/ senses

syn: keenness, acuteness

ant: dullness, obtuseness

depraved

(adj)

evil; corrupt; immoral

syn: perverted, degenerate, vicious

ant: moral, virtuous, upright, uncorrupted

fecund

(adj)

prolific in offspring or ideas

syn: fertile, teeming

ant: infertile, barren, unproductive

figment

(n)

fabrication of the mind; unreasonable thought

syn: creation, invention, fancy

garner

(v)

to receive from effort; to store for future use

syn: collect, accumulate, accrue

ant: scatter, squander, waste, dissipate

hallow

(v)

to deem as holy/ sacred

syn: sanctify, consecrate, revere, venerate, bless

ant: desecrate, defile, profane

idiosyncrasy

(n)

serves to distinguish/ identify

syn: eccentricity, quirk, mannerism

mundane

(adj)

earthly; practical affairs; ordinary

syn: prosaic, humdrum, routine, sublunary

ant: heavenly, unworldly, spiritual, transcendental

nuance

(n)

slight variation in color, meaning, or quality

syn: shade, nicety, refinement

penchant

(n)

strong attraction/ inclination

syn: proclivity, propensity, predilection

ant: disinclination, aversion

simile

comparison using “like” or “as”

“it is with words, as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn”

simile

metaphor

comparison

“life the hound / equivocal / comes at a bound / either to rend me / or to befriend”

metaphor

personification

giving the attributes of a human being to an animal, object, or concept

“those guns will fire”

metonymy

apostrophe

addressing someone absent, dead, or non-human as if that person or thing was present

“tiger! tiger! burning bright / in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye / could frame thy fearful symmetry”

apostrophe

overstatement

exaggeration that holds some semblance of truth

“o, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / it seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / like a rich jewel in an ethiope’s ear”

overstatement

metonymy

something closely related to the thing actually meant

“joy and temperance and repose / slam the door on the doctor’s nose”

personification

synecdoche

part of a whole

“malt does more than milton can / to justify god’s ways to man”

synecdoche

imagery

the representation through language of sense experience

• Tactile appeals to touch

• Organic appeals to what we feel inside

• Kinesthetic appeals to body movements

“the air was soft the ground still cold”

“and rocks to twitch, and all to blur”

“as when a set mind, blessed by doubt”

tactile, kinesthetic, and organic imagery

symbol

something that represents or stands for another thing

understatement

saying less than one means

“and the silent nights” (in the inner city)

understatement

denotation

the literal meaning of a word

connotation

the abstract meaning of a word

allusion

a reference to something in past literature, history, pop culture, or people

“so eden sank to grief, / so dawn goes down to day”

allusion

juxtaposition

placing two or more things side by side to create a contrast

“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

juxtaposition

irony

text that means the opposite of what is directly said

"son, we want you to tell us everything!"

"today I killed a man. yesterday I helped drap napalm on women and children”

"please don't write us such depressing letters"

irony