abet
(v.) to encourage assist, aid, support (especially in something wrong or unworthy)
A: hamper, hinder, impede, frustrate
aver
(v.) to affirm, declare confidently
S: assert, asseverate, avouch
A: deny, disavow, repudiate, disclaim
blatant
(adj.) noisy in a coarse, offensive way; obvious or conspicuous, especially in an unfavorable sense
S: flagrant, glaring, egregious, disagreeable, loud
A: inconsequential, trifling, piddling, petty
broach
(v.) to bring up or begin to talk about (a subject); to announce, introduce; to break the surface of the water; to turn sideways to the wind and waves; to pierce ( a keg or cask) in order to draw off liquid; (n.) a spit for roasting; a tool for tapping casks
buttress
(v.) to support, prop up, strengthen: (n.) a supporting structure
S: bolster, reinforce, brace, shore up
A: undermine, weaken, impair
carousal
(n.) noisy revelry or merrymaking
S: drinking bout, drunken revel, binge
collate
(v.) to compare critically in order to note differences, similarities, etc.: to arrange in order for some specific purpose
S: sort out, cross-check, rearrange
connoisseur
(n.) an expert: one who is well qualified to pass critical judgements, especially in one of the fine arts
S: authority, savant, pundit
A: ignoramus, philistine, yahoo
disconsolate
(adj.) deeply unhappy or dejected; without hope, beyond consolation
S: grief-stricken, inconsolable, comfortless
A: cheerful, blithe, buoyant, jaunty
encumber
(v.) to weigh down or burden (with difficulties, cares, debt, etc.): to fill up, block up, hinder
S: overload, saddle, hamper, clog
A: unburden, unload, relieve
foment
(v.) to promote trouble or rebellion; to apply warm liquids to, warm
S: instigate, incite, stir up
A: quell, quash, squelch, suppress
grisly
(adj.) frightful, horrible, ghastly
S: gruesome, gory, hideous
A: pleasant, delightful, attractive
herculean
(adj.) (capital H) relating to Hercules; (lowercase h) characterized by great strength; very hard to do in the sense of requiring unusual strength
S: mighty, powerful, arduous, onerous, colossal
A: puny, LIlliputian, bantam
impassive
impassive
(adj.) showing no feeling or emotion; inanimate; motionless
S: emotionless, stoical, unemotional, insensible, dispassionate
A: emotional, passionate, excitable
inauspicious
(adj.) unfavorable, unlucky, suggesting bad luck for the future
S: unpropitious, unpromising, untimely
A: propitious, favorable
incontrovertible
adj.) unquestionable, beyond dispute
S: incontestable, indisputable indubitable
A: debatable, dubious, open to question
nonplussed
(adj. part.) puzzled, not knowing what to do, at a loss
S: perplexed, baffled, stumped, flabbergasted
A: poised, confident, assured
opportune
(adj.) suitable or convenient for a particular purpose; occuring at an appropriate time
S: timely, appropriate, felicitous
A: untimely, inconvenient, inappropriate
prolific
(adj.) abundantly productive; abundant, profuse
S: fruitful, fecund, proliferous
A: barren, unproductive, sterile, sparse
rejoinder
(n.) a reply to a reply, especially from the defendant in a legal suit
S: answer, reply, response, riposte, retort
amenable
(adj.) willing to follow advice or authority, tractable, submissive; responsive; liable to be held responsible
S: agreeable, compliant, docile
A: unresponsive, resistant, recalcitrant
berate
(v.) to scold sharply
S: chide, rebuke, reprove, reprimand
A: praise, compliment, pat on the back
carnage
(n.) large-scale slaughter or loss of life
S: butchery, bloodbath, massacre
credulous
(adj.) too ready to believe, easily deceived
S: gullible
A: dubious, skeptical
criterion
(n.) a rule, test; a standard of judgement or evaluation
S: yardstick, touchstone, gauge, canon
deplete
(v.) to use up as a result of spending or consumption; to diminish greatly
S: exhaust, empty, drain, bankrupt
A: replenish, refill, restock, resupply
expatiate
(v.) to expand on, write or talk at length or in detail; to move about freely
S: elaborate, enlarge, descant, wander, roam
A: sketch roughly, summarize, condense, adumbrate
extraneous
(adj.) coming from the outside, foreign,; present but no essential, irrelevant
S: incidental, extrinsic
A: intrinsic, relevant, pertinent, germane
inception
(n.) the beginning, start, earliest stage of some process, institution, etc.
S: commencement, inauguration, outset
A: completion, conclusion, termination
infirmity
(n.) a weakness or ailment (physical, mental, moral, etc.)
S: affliction, malady, defect
A: stimulating, mature
jejune
(adj.) lacking in nutritive value; lacking in interest or substance, immature, juvenile
S: vapid, insipid, puerile, childish
A: stimulating, mature
obdurate
(adj.) stubborn, unyielding
S: obstinate, adamant
A: yielding, tractable, flexible
potpourri
(n.) a collection of diverse or miscellaneous items; a general mixture; petals mixed with spices for scent
S: hodgepodge, melange, farrago, medley
A: homogenous or uniform group
precocious
(adj.) showing unusually early development (especially in talents and mental capacity)
S: forward, gifted, advanced
A: backward, retarded, slow
sadistic
(adj.) delighting in cruelty, excessively cruel
S: brutal, vicious, inhuman, fiendish
A: masochistic, clement, humane, mericful
sententious
(adj.) self-righteous, characterized by moralizing; given to use of maxims or adages; saying much in few words, pithy
S: aphoristic, epigrammatic, moralistic
A: discursive, diffuse, episodic
supplicate
(v.) to beg earnestly and humbly
S: plead, petition, implore, entreat
surfeit
(n.) an excess or overindulgence, as in eating or drinking, causing disgust (v.) to feed or supply with anything to excess
S: (n.) excess, glut; (v.) cloy, satiate
A: (n.) dearth, paucity, lack
tortuous
(adj.) winding, twisted, crooked,; highly involved, complex; devious
S: circuitous, serpentine, labyrinthine
A: direct, straight, straightforward
turgid
(adj.) swollen, blated, filled to excess; overdecorated or excessive in language
S: inflated, pompous, bombastic, overblown
A: muted, understated, unadorned, austere
bulwark
(n.) a strong defense or protection, a solid wall-like structure for defense
(v.) to provide such defense or protection
S: (n.) stronghold, citadel, bastion, rampart
A: (n.) breach, weak point in the defense
choleric
(adj.) easily made angry, bad-tempered
S: irascible, testy, splenetic, bilious
A: affable, genial, even-tempered
curtail
(v.) to cut short, bring to a halt or end sooner than expected; to reduce
S: limit, abbreviate, abridge, contract
A: protract, extend
enigmatic
(adj.) puzzling, perplexing, inexplicable, not easily understood
S: baffling, mysterious, inexplicable
A: intelligible, understandable, fathomable
impromptu
(adj. adv.) without preparation, offhand, suddenly or hastily done
(n.) an extemporaneous composition or remark; a minimal piece suggestive of improvisation
S: (adj.) spontaneous, improvised, unrehearsed
A: (adj.) rehearsed, planned, prepared, premeditated
mawkish
(adj.) excessively and objectionable sentimental; having a mildly sickening flavor
S: sentimentalized, maudlin, mushy, nauseating
A: unsentimental, callous, insensitive
mollify
(v.) to soften, make gentle, pacify; to calm, allay (as an emotion), assuage, appease, placate; to reduce in intensity
A: enrage, anger, aggravate, exacerbate
onus
(n.) something that is heavy or burdensome (especially an unwelcome responsibility); a stigma; blame
S: burden, obligation, duty, stigma
presentiment
(n.) a vague sense of approaching misfortune
S: foreboding, premonition, hunch
requisite
(adj.) needed, necessary, regarded as essential or indispensable
S: required, obligatory, incumbent
A: nonessential, superfluous, optional
sartorial
(adj.) of or pertaining to a tailor or his work; having to do with clothes or dress (especially men’s)
definitive
(adj.) conclusive, final, representing the limit of what can be done
S: exhaustive, authoritative
A: tentative, inconclusive
adamant
(adj.) firm in purpose or opinion, unyielding, obdurate, implacable, inflexible
(n.) an extremely hard substance
A: (adj.) yielding, flexible, pliable
brouhaha
(n.) a confused hodgepodge of sounds, hubbub; an uproar or commotion that goes far beyond what is justified
S: furor, hullabaloo, tumult, pandemonium
cloy
(v.) to spoil or destroy an appetite by too much indulgence, especially in sweet or rich things; to glut, satiate, surfeit
S: stimulate, whet
deference
(n.) courteous yielding to the wishes and ideas of another person; great respect marked by submission, as to a superior
S: respect, consideration, courtesy
A: contempt, disrespect, scorn, disdain
demeanor
(n.) the way a person behaves, overall impression made by comportment, manner, etc.; facial expression, mien
S: conduct, behavior, bearing, carriage
profligate
(adj.) given over to dissipation and self-indulgence. Immoral extravagant
(n.) a person given to self-indulgent and wild spending
S: (adj.) prodiga, improvident; (n.) spendthrift
A: (adj.) penny-pinching, frugal, economical
remit
(v.) to send or hand in (as in money); to cancel (as a penalty of punishment), forgive, pardon; to lessen, diminish; to put off, postpone, defer
S: pay, absolve, subside, abate
thwart
(v.) to oppose successfully; to prevent, frustrate
S: foil, baffle
A: aid, assist, abet, further