English 1600 Unit 3 Vocabulary

ancillary

(adj.) subordinate or supplementary

S: auxiliary, subsidiary, accessory

A: central, key, primary, main

bowdlerize

(v.) to remove material considered offense (from a book, play, film, etc.)

S: censor, purge, expurgate

condescend

(v.) to come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level; to deal with people in a patronizing manner

S; deign

cozen

(v.) to trick; to cheat or swindle

S: dupe, deceive, beguile, inveigle

enclave

(n.) an enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character

S: island, subgroup

forte

(n.) a person’s strong point; what a person does best

S: gift, aptitude, speciality

A: weakness, shortcoming, foible

gratis

(adj.) free (adv.) without charge

S: (adj.) on the house; (adv.) freely

A: (adv.) for a price

icon

(n.) a 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

S: emblem , idol

interstice

(n.) a small, narrow space between things or parts of thing

S: gap, slot, crevice, interval, lacuna

macrocosm

(n.) the universe considered as whole; the entire complex structure of something

S: cosmos, entirety

A: model, miniature, microcosm

mountebank

(n.) a trickster or swindler; a charlatan

S: imposter, quack

A: sucker, dupe, “mark”, “pigeon”

paean

(n.) a song of praise, joy, or triumph

S: hymn, ode, anthem

A: dirge, elegy, lament, threnody

persiflage

(n.) light hearted joking, talk or writing

S: banter, jesting, repartee, badinage

plethora

(n.) overfullness; superabundance; superfluity

S: surplus, surfeit, glut, excess

A: shortage, paucity, dearth, scarcity

pragmatic

(adj.) concerned with practical considerations or values; dealing with actions and results rather than with abstract theory; stiff in one’s opinions

S: down-to-earth, businesslike

A: idealistic, impractical, visionary

quizzical

(adj.) puzzled; mocking; odd; equivocal

S: peculiar, perplexed, mystified, dersivie

A: unequivocal, crystal-clear, unambiguous

rapacity

(n.) inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one’s desires by force, extortion, or plunder

S: avarice, cupidity, voraciousness

A: liberlity, generosity, altruism

schism

(n.) a formal split within a religious organization; anydivison or separation of a group or organization into hostile faction

S: rift, breach

A: united front, reconciliation

therapeutic

(adj.) having the power to heal or cure; beneficial

S: curative, salutary, salubrious

A: harmful, injurious, deleterious

virtuoso

(n.) a brilliant performer; a person with masterly skill or technique (adj.) masterly or brilliant

S: (n.) expert, master, prodigy, maestro

A: (n.) amateur, beginner, novice; (adj.) mediocre