Unit 2(11th grade voab)

accost

to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

Accost

syn:buttonhole, approach
ant: avoid, shun

animadversion

a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Animadversion

syn: rebuke, reproof
ant: praise, compliment

avid

desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

Avid

syn: keen, enthusiastic, grasping
ant: reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic

brackish

having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Brackish

syn: saline
ant: clear, sweet

celerity

swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Celerity

syn: promptness, speed
ant: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

devious

straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

Devious

syn: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful
ant: direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard

gambit

in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Gambit

syn: ploy, ruse, maneuver

halcyon

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; (adj.) of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

Halcyon

syn: tranquil, placid, palmy
ant: turbulent, tumultuous

histrionic

pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

Histrionic

syn: affected, stagy
ant: muted, untheatrical, subdued

incendiary

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife

incendiary

syn: inflammatory, provocative, firebrand
ant: soothing, quieting, peacemaker

maelstrom

a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Maelstrom

syn: chaos, turbulence, tumult

myopic

nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

Myopic

syn: shortsighted
ant: farsighted

overt

open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

Overt

syn: clear, obvious, manifest, patent
ant: clandestine, covert, concealed

pejorative

tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

pejorative

ant: complimentary, ameliorative

propriety

(n) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Propriety

syn: fitness, correctness
ant: unseemliness, inappropriateness

sacrilege

improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

Sacrilege

syn: desecration, profanation, defilement

summarily

without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Summarily

syn: promptly, peremptorily

suppliant

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly; (n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

talisman

an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

undulate

to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

Undulate

syn: fluctuate, rise and fall