Level h unit 6

abortive

abortive

(adjective)failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose; only partially or imperfectly developed

SYN: miscarried, fruitless, premature

bruit

(verb)to spread news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors

SYN: broadcast, blazon

contumelious

(adjective) insolent or rude in speech or behavior; insultingly abusive; humiliating

SYN: abusive, scurrilous

dictum

(noun) a short saying; an authoritative statement

SYN: maxim, aphorism, axiom, precept

ensconce

(verb) to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place

SYN: nestle, lodge, entrench

iconoclastic

(adjective) attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions

SYN: image-breaking, irreverent, heretical

in medias res

(adverb) in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things

internecine

(adjective) mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed

SYN: murderous, savage, ruinous

maladroit

(adjective) lacking in skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgment

SYN: inept, awkward, clumsy, gauche

maudlin

(adjective) excessively or effusively sentimental

SYN: mushy, mawkish

modulate

(verb) to change or vary the intensity or pitch; to temper or soften; to regulate, adjust

SYN: adapt, moderate

portentous

(adjective) foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self-consciously weighty, pompous

SYN: foreboding, ominous, pretentious

prescience

(noun) knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight

SYN: foreknowledge

quid pro quo

(noun) something given in exchange or return for something else

SYN: swap, trade

salubrious

(adjective) conducive to health or well-being; wholesome

SYN: beneficial, healthy, invigorating

saturnalian

(adjective) characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness

SYN: dissipated, debauched, orgiastic

touchstone

(noun) a means of testing worth or genuineness

SYN: criterion, yardstick, benchmark

traumatic

(adjective) so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage

SYN: jolting

vitiate

(verb) to weaken, debase, or corrupt; to impair the quality or value of

SYN: degrade, undermine

waggish

(adjective) fond of making jokes; characteristic of a joker; playfully humorous or droll

SYN: whimsical, jocular