Sadlier Oxford Level g Unit 4-6

four to six

Atrophy

Atrophy

(n.) The wasting away of a body organ or tissue; any progressive decline or failure; (v.) To waste away. (SYN: degeneration, deterioration, wither) (ANT: growth, mature)

Bastion

(n.) A fortified place, stronghold. (SYN: citadel, rampart, parapet)

Concord

(n.) A state of agreement, harmony, unanimity; a treaty, pact, covenant. (ANT: disagreement, strife, discord)

Consummate

(adj.) Complete or perfect in the highest degree; (v.) To bring to a state of completion or perfection. (SYN: masterful, clinch, conclude) (ANT: launch, initiate, begin, kick-off)

Disarray

(n.) Disorder, confusion. (v.) To throw into disorder. (SYN: disorganization, dishevel, mess up) (ANT: organization, order, tidiness)

Exigency

(n.) Urgency, pressure; urgent demand, pressing need; an emergency. (SYN: requirement, crisis)

Flotsam

(n.) Floating debris; homeless, impoverished people. (SYN: floating wreckage)

Frenetic

(adj.) Frenzied, highly agitated. (SYN: frantic, overwrought) (ANT: calm, controlled, relaxed, leisurely)

Glean

(v.) To gather bit by bit; to gather small quantities of grain left in a field by the reapers. (SYN: cull, pick up)

Grouse

(n.) A type of game bird; a complaint; (v.) to complain, grumble. (SYN: kvetch, bellyache)

Incarcerate

(v.) To imprison, confine, jail. (SYN: intern) (ANT: liberate, free)

Incumbent

(adj.) Obligatory, required. (n.) one who holds a specific office at the time spoken of. (SYN: mandatory, necessary) (ANT: optional, unnecessary)

Jocular

(adj.) Humorous, jesting, jolly, joking. (SYN: waggish, facetious, droll) (ANT: solemn, grave, earnest, grim)

Ludicrous

(adj.) Ridiculous, laughable, absurd. (SYN: risible, preposterous) (ANT: heartrending, poignant, pathetic)

Mordant

(adj.) Biting or caustic in thought, manner, or style; sharply or bitterly harsh. (SYN: acrimonious, acidulous, sardonic, scathing) (ANT: bland, mild, gentle, soothing)

Nettle

(n.) A prickly or stinging plant; (v.) To arouse displeasure, impatience, or anger; to vex or irritate severely. (SYN: peeve, annoy, incense, gall) (ANT: please, delight, soothe, pacify)

Pecuniary

(adj.) Consisting of or measured in money; of or related to money. (SYN: monetary)

Pusillanimous

(adj.) Contemptibly cowardly or mean-spirited. (SYN: lily-livered) (ANT: stouthearted, courageous)

Recumbent

(adj.) In a reclining position, lying down, in the posture of one sleeping or resting. (SYN: prone, supine, inactive) (ANT: erect, energetic, dynamic)

Stratagem

(n.) A scheme to outwit or deceive an opponent or to gain an end. (SYN: trick, ploy, subterfuge)

Acuity

(n.) Sharpness (particularly of the mind or senses) (SYN: acuteness) (ANT: dullness, obtuseness)

Delineate

(v.) To portray, sketch, or describe in accurate and vivid detail; to represent pictorially. (SYN: picture, render)

Depraved

(adj.) Marked by evil and corruption, devoid of moral principles. (SYN: perverted, degenerate, vicious, corrupt) (ANT: moral, virtuous, upright, uncorrupted)

Enervate

(v.) To weaken or lessen the mental, moral, or physical vigor of; enfeeble, hamstring. (SYN: impair, cripple, paralyze) (ANT: invigorate, strengthen, buttress)

Esoteric

(adj.) Intended for or understood by only a select few, private, secret. (SYN: cryptic, arcane, recondite) (ANT: accessible, comprehensible, intelligible)

Fecund

(adj.) Fruitful in offspring or vegetation; intellectually productive. (SYN: fertile, teeming, prolific) (ANT: infertile, barren, unproductive)

Fiat

(n.) An arbitrary order or decree; a command or act of will or consciousness. (SYN: dictum, ukase)

Figment

(n.) A fabrication of the mind; an arbitrary notion. (SYN: invention, fancy)

Garner

(v.) To acquire as the result of effort; to gather and store away, as for future use. (SYN: collect, accumulate, accrue) (ANT: scatter, squander, waste, dissipate)

Hallow

(v.) To set apart as holy or sacred, sanctify, consecrate; to honor greatly, revere. (SYN: venerate, bless) (ANT: defile, profane, sacrilege)

Idiosyncrasy

(n.) A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify. (SYN: quirk, mannerism)

Ignominy

(n.) Shame and disgrace. (SYN: humiliation, disrepute, odium) (ANT: honor, acclaim)

Mundane

(adj.) Earthly, worldly, relating to practical and material affairs; concerned with what is ordinary. (SYN: prosaic, humdrum, routine, sublunary) (ANT: heavenly, spiritual, transcendental)

Nuance

(n.) A subtle or slight variation (as in color, meaning, quality) (SYN: shade, nicety, refinement)

Overweening

(adj.) Conceited, presumptuous; excessive, immoderate. (SYN: arrogant, unbridled, inflated) (ANT: restrained, understated, meek)

Penchant

(n.) A strong attraction or inclination. (SYN: proclivity, predilection) (ANT: disinclination, aversion)

Reputed

(adj.) According to reputation or general belief; having widespread acceptance and good reputation; (part.) alleged. (SYN: putative, reputable) (ANT: proven, corroborated, authenticated)

Sophistry

(n.) Reasoning that seems plausible but is actually unsound; a fallacy. (SYN: specious reasoning)

Sumptuous

(adj.) Costly, rich, magnificent. (SYN: lavish, munificent, opulent, splendid) (ANT: skimpy, stingy, niggardly, spartan)

Ubiquitous

(adj.) Present or existing everywhere. (SYN: pervasive, universal) (ANT: restricted, limited, rare, scarce)

Abject

(adj.) Degraded; base, contemptible; cringing, servile; complete and unrelieved. (SYN: wretched, miserable, ignoble, sheer, utter) (ANT: noble, exalted)

Agnostic

(n.) One who believes that nothing can be known about God; a skeptic; (adj.) without faith, skeptical. (SYN: doubter) (ANT: believer)

Complicity

(n.) involvement in wrongdoing; the state of being an accomplice. (SYN: connivance, collusion) (ANT: non-involvement, innocence)

Derelict

(n.) Someone or something that is abandoned or neglected; (adj.) left abandoned; neglectful of duty. (SYN: vagrant, delinquent) (ANT: punctilious, conscientious, scrupulous)

Diatribe

(n.) A bitter and prolonged verbal attack. (SYN: harangue, tirade) (ANT: panegyric, encomium, eulogy)

Effigy

(n.) A crude image of a despised person. (SYN: figure, figurine)

Equity

(n.) The state or quality of being just, fair or impartial; fair and equal treatment; something that is fair; the money value of a property above and beyond any mortgage or other claim. (SYN: justice, fairness, impartiality) (ANT: unfairness, bias, prejudice)

Inane

(Adj.) Silly, empty of meaning or value. (SYN: idiotic, moronic, fatuous) (ANT: sensible, meaningful, profound)

Indictment

(n.) The act of accusing; a formal accusation. (SYN: charge, accusation)

Indubitable

(adj.) Certain, not to be doubted or denied. (SYN: unquestionable, indisputable) (ANT: questionable, debatable, dubious)

Intermittent

(adj.) Stopping and beginning again, sporadic. (SYN: fitful, spasmodic, random) (ANT: uninterrupted)

Moot (adj.) (n.) (v.)

(adj.) open to discussion and debate, unresolved; (v.) to bring up for discussion; (n.) a hypothetical law case argued by students. (SYN: debatable, questionable, broach) (ANT: undebatable, indisputable, self-evident)

Motif

(n.) A principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design.

Neophyte

(n.) A new convert, beginner, novice. (SYN: tenderfoot, tyro, greenhorn) (ANT: veteran, past master, expert, pro)

Perspicacity

(n.) Keenness in observing and understanding. (SYN: acumen, discernment) (ANT: dullness, obtuseness)

Plenary

(adj.) Complete in all aspects or essentials; absolute; attended by all qualified members. (SYN: unrestricted) (ANT: limited, restricted, incomplete)

Surveillance

(n.) A watch kept over a person; careful, close and disciplined observation. (SYN: observation, monitoring)

Sylvan

(adj.) Pertaining to or characteristic of forests; living or located in a forest; wooded, woody. (SYN: arcadian)

Testy

(adj.) Easily irritated; characterized by impatience and exasperation. (SYN: irritable, peevish, waspish, petulant) (ANT: imperturbable, unexcitable)

Travesty

(n.) A grotesque or grossly inferior imitation; a disguise, especially the clothing of the opposite sex; (v.) to ridicule by imitating in a broad or burlesque fashion. (SYN: burlesque, caricature, farce)