AP Lit Vocab 3

ap lit vocab 3 - parts of speech, def, syn, ant

ancillary (adj.)

def: Subordinate or supplementary

syn: Auxiliary, accessory

ant: Central, key, primary, principal, mail

Bowdlerize (v.)

def: to remove material considered offensive (from a book, play, film, etc...)

syn: purge, expurgate

ant: none

condescend (v.)

def: To come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level; to deal with people in a patronizing manner

syn: Talk down to

ant: none

cozen (v.)

def: To trick or swindle

syn: Dupe, deceive, beguile, inveigle

ant: none

enclave (n.)

def: An enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character

syn: island, subgroup

ant: none

Forte (n.)

def: a person’s strong point; what a person does best

syn: gift, aptitude, speciality

ant: weakness, foible

Gratis (adj., adv.)

Def 1: adj: Free

Def 2: adv: Without charge

Syn: on the house

Icon (n.)

def: representation or image of a sacred personage, often considered sacred itself; an image or picture; a symbol; a graphic symbol on a computer monitor display; an object of blind devotion

Syn: Emblem

Ant: none

Interstice (n.)

Def: a small, narrow space between things or parts of things

Syn: Gap, slot, crevice, interval, lacuna

ant: none

Macrocosm (n.)

def: The universe considered as a whole; the entire complex structure of something

syn: Cosmos, entirety

ant: model, miniature, microcosm

Mountebank (n.)

def: a trickster or a swindler; a charlatan

syn: imposter, quack

ant: dupe, mark, pigeon

paean (n.)

def: a song of praise, joy, or triumph

syn: ode, anthem

ant: dirge, elegy, threnody

persiflage (n.)

def: lighthearted joking, talk, or writing

syn: banter, jesting, badinage

ant: none

Plethora (n.)

def: overfullness, superabundance, superfluity

syn: surplus, glut, excess

ant: shortage, paucity, dearth, scarcity

pragmatic (adj.)

def: Concerned with practical considerations or values; dealing with actions and results rather than with abstract theory; stiff in one’s opinions

syn: down-to-earth

ant: impractical, visionary

quizzical (adj.)

def: puzzled, mocking; odd; equivocal

syn: peculiar, perplexed, mystified, derisive

ant: unequivocal, unambiguous

rapacity (n.)

def: inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one’s desires by force, extortion, or plunder

syn: avarice, cupidity, voraciousness

ant: liberality, altruism

Schism (n.)

def: a formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile faction

syn: rift

ant: reconciliation

therapeutic (adj.)

def: having the power to heal or cure; beneficial

syn: salutary, salubrious

ant: harmful, injurious, deleterious

Virtuoso (n., adj.)

def 1: (n.) A brilliant performer; a person with a masterly skill or technique

def 2: (adj.) masterly or brilliant

syn: expert, prodigy, maestro

ant: amateur, beginner, novice, mediocre