asunder
(adv.) [literary or archaic] apart, divided. Related word: sunder (v.) to split apart.
asunder SYN
in pieces, into parts.
besotted
(adj.) intoxicated with drink; blindly intoxicated by the charms of another person. Note: sot (v.) means to drink habitually. Sotted is synonymous with besotted.
besotted ANT
temperate, clearheaded, levelheaded.
betroth
(v.) to promise to marry; to give in marriage. Related: become engaged.
complicit
(adj.) responsible for or helping to commit crime or do wrong. Related word: accomplice (n.).
complicit SYN
conspiring, in cahoots (inf.), conniving.
defile
(v.) [with object] to desecrate or mar something; [archaic] to violate the chastity of someone (usu. a woman)
defile SYN
sully, debase, tarnish, ruin
exude
(v.) to discharge steadily (as in an odor or moisture); to display openly (an emotion or attribute)
exude SYN
emit, emanate
fidelity
(n.) the quality of being faithful.
fidelity ANT
disloyalty, perfidy, inconstancy, treachery.
harbinger
(n.) a person or thing that signals the approach of something.
harbinger SYN
herald, portent, bellwether, forerunner, precursor.
helter-skelter
(adj. and adv.) in disorderly haste and confusion.
helter-skelter SYN
(adj.) headlong, pell-mell; (adv.) hastily, heedlessly, recklessly.
impudent
(adj.) showing lack of respect for another person; rude.
impudent SYN
impertinent, insolent, discourteous, ill-mannered.
ministration(s)
(n.) act(s) of providing care or assistance; provision of services; performance of a religious sacrament.
ministration(s) ANT
Usage: generally appears as plural ministrations.
pagan
(n.) a person whose religious beliefs do not conform to those of Christianity; one who does not worship the deity as described in the Bible. Note: archaic, often used pejoratively; however, some modern practitioners of nature-based or pre-Christian religions cheerfully refer to themselves as pagans or neopagans.
pagan SYN
pej.) heathen, idolator, infidel.
penitence
(n.) the feeling or action of showing sorrow or responsibility for wrongdoing.
penitence SYN
repentance, contrition, regret, compunction, self-reproach.
privation
(n.) an act of depriving (oneself); the state of being deprived, especially of what is needed for existence.
privation SYN
rationing, austerity, want, hardship.
ramshackle
(adj.) poorly or carelessly constructed; in a state of disrepair to the point of imminent collapse, appearing on the verge of falling apart.
ramshackle SYN
dilapidated, decrepit, run-down, crumbling.
shrewd
(adj.) having or showing sharp powers of judgment; tending to use wily and artful ways of dealing with others.
shrewd ANT
naïve, ingenuous, guileless, gullible, inexperienced.
stupefy
(v.) to render stupid, groggy, or insensible; to make someone unable to think or feel properly.
stupefy SYN
stun, intoxicate, dumbfound, astound, flabbergast (inf.)
taint
(n.) trace of an undesirable quality or substance; (v.) to pollute something with an undesirable quality or substance.
taint SYN
blemish, stigma, tinge; (v.) adulterate, contaminate, infect, blight.
transfix
( v.) to arrest and hold someone’s attention (to the point that they are unable to move or act); to hold something motionless with a pointed object. Usage: often appears in past participle form as transfixed.
transfix SYN
impale, pierce; captivate, mesmerize, spellbind.
waylay
v.) to accost and detain someone in conversation or otherwise. Usage note: past and past participle appear as waylaid.
waylay SYN
ambush, assail, hold up.