Unit 4 Vocabulary (Sadlier-Oxford)

abscond

(v.) to run off and hide

SYN: bolt, make off, skip town

CON: negative

access

(n) approach or admittance to places, persons, things; an increase; (v) to get at, obtain

SYN: (n) entry, ingress

ANT: (n) total exclusion

CON: positive

anarchy

(n.) a lack of government and law; confusion

SYN: chaos, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium

ANT: law and order, peace and quiet

CON: negative

arduous

(adj.) hard to do, requiring much effort

SYN: hard, difficult, laborious, fatiguing

ANT: easy, simple, effortless

CON: negative

auspicious

(adj.) favorable; fortunate

SYN: promising, encouraging, propitious

ANT: ill-omened, sinister

CON: positive

daunt

(v) to overcome with fear, intimidate; to dishearten, discourage

SYN: dismay, cow

ANT: encourage, embolden, reassure

CON: negative

disentangle

(v.) to free from tangles or complications

SYN: unravel, unwind, unscramble, unsnarl

ANT: tangle up, ensnarl, snag

CON: positive

fated

(adj.) determined in advance by destiny or fortune

SYN: destined, preordained, doomed

ANT: fortuitous, chance, random

CON: depends on context (neutral)

hoodwink

(v.) to mislead by a trick, deceive

SYN: put one over on, fool

ANT: disabuse

CON: negative

inanimate

(adj.) not having life; without energy or spirit

SYN: dead, spiritless

ANT: living, alive, energetic, sprightly

CON: negative/neutral

incinerate

(v.) to burn to ashes

SYN: burn up, cremate, reduce to ashes

CON: negative

intrepid

(adj) very brave, fearless, unshakable

SYN: valiant, audacious, daring

ANT: timid, cowardly, craven, pusillanimous

CON: positive

larceny

(n.) theft

SYN: stealing, robbery

CON: negative

pliant

(adj.) bending readily; easily influenced

SYN: supple, flexible, elastic, plastic

ANT: rigid, stiff, inflexible, set in stone

CON: depends on context (neutral)

pompous

(adj.) overly self-important in speech and manner; excessively stately or ceremonious

SYN: highfalutin, bombastic

ANT: unpretentious, plain

CON: negative

precipice

(n) a very steep cliff, the brink or edge of disaster

SYN: crag, bluff, ledge

ANT: abyss, chasm, gorge

CON: neutral/negative

prototype

(n) an original model on which later versions are patterned

SYN: example, sample

ANT: copy

CON: neutral/positive

rectify

(v.) to make right, correct

SYN: set right

ANT: mess up, botch, bungle

CON: positive

reprieve

(n) a temporary relief or delay; (v) to grant a postponement

SYN: (n) stay, respite (v) delay

ANT: (v) proceed

CON: positive

revile

(v.) to attack with words, call bad names

SYN: inveigh against, malign, vilify

ANT: praise, acclaim, revere, idolize

CON: negative