English Vocab 1

Acquisitive

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

In an acquisitive society, there is a great deal of emphasis on buying and selling.

Acquisitive

SYNONYMS: greedy, grasping, avaricious, retentive

ANTONYMS: altruistic, unretentive

Animadversion

a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

The inexperienced filmmaker was disheartened by the animadversion of the film critic.

Animadversion

SYNONYMS: rebuke, reproof

ANTONYMS: praise, compliment

Banal

hackneyed, trite, commonplace

The new play’s banal dialogue made it seem more like a soap opera than a serious drama.

Banal

SYNONYMS: stale, insipid

ANTONYMS: fresh, novel, original, new

Cacophonous

harsh-sounding, raucous, discordant, dissonant

The scene opened with a cacophonous laughter coming from three witches gathered around a steaming cauldron.

Cacophonous

ANTONYMS: harmonious, melodious, mellifluous

Celerity

swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Although the heavy snowfall was not expected, the highway department responded with surprising celerity.

Celerity

SYNONYMS: promptness, alacrity, speed

ANTONYMS: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

Dissemble

to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

The young man was unable to dissemble his feelings and admitted to having committed the crime.

Dissemble

SYNONYMS: dissimulate, mask, feign

Eschew

to avoid, shun, keep away from

The young athletes promised the coach that they would train vigorously and eschew bad habits.

Eschew

SYNONYMS: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo

ANTONYMS: embrace, adopt

Evince

to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

The crowd did not evince any signs of panic but moved in an orderly fashion the nearest exits.

Evince

SYNONYMS: exhibit, manifest, occasion

Feckless

lackin in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible, unreliable

Although a feckless youth, he eventually matured into a hard-working and responsible citizen.

Feckless

SYNONYMS: feeble, helpless, incompetent, ineffectual

ANTONYMS: competent, capable, effective

Halcyon

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

The teacher read the legend of the halcyon, a mythic bird that nested in a calm sea.

The woman often spoke of the halcyon days of her childhood.

Halcyon

SYNONYMS: tranquil, serene, placid

ANTONYMS: turbulent, chaotic, tumultuous

Intransigent

refusing to compromise; irreconcilable

Little will get accomplished if the legislators of both parties maintain their intransigent attitudes.

Intransigent

SYNONYMS: uncompromising, unyeilding, obdurate

ANTONYMS: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding

Maelstrom

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

Many innocent people caught in the maelstrom of the revolution lost their lives and property.

Maelstrom

SYNONYMS: vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult

Nefarious

wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

Brutus and Cassius hatched a nefarious plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on the steps of the Roman Senate.

Nefarious

SYNONYMS: iniquitous, reprehensible

ANTONYMS: virtuous, honorable, praiseworthy, meritorious

Pejorative

tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

The lawyer was accused of making a pejorative remark when referring to the defendant’s background.

Pejorative

ANTONYMS: complimentary, ameliorative

Piquant

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

The chef was an expert in maing those piquant dishes that are characteristics of South Indian cooking.

Piquant

SYNONYMS: tangy, zestful

ANTONYMS: bland, insipid, tasteless, mild

Progeny

descendants, offspring, children, followers, disciples

The Bill of Rights guarantess certain civil rights and protections to ourselves and our progeny.

Progeny

SYNONYMS: issue, posterity

ANTONYMS: ancestors, forebears, antecedents

Summarily

without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

As soon as there was evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the official was summarily ousted from his post.

Summarily

SYNONYMS: promptly, peremptorily, abruptly

Temporize

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

For most of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, the protagonist Hamlet chooses to temporize rather than act.

Temporize

SYNONYMS: hedge, dillydally, procrastinate

Unwonted

not usual or expected; not in character

The listless students answered with unwonted spirit when the subject of military tactics was raised.

Unwonted

SYNONYMS: unusual, uncommon, unexpected, atypical

ANTONYMS: usual, customary, typical

Verbiage

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

The contract was full of meaningless verbiage that seemed designed to confuse the lay person.

Verbiage

SYNONYMS: verbosity, prolixity, diction, jargon