Vocabulary Workshop Level E Unit 14

alacrity

alacrity

(noun) a cheerful readiness; brisk and eager action

syn: promptness, willingness, dispatch, celerity ant: reluctance, unwillingness, hesitancy

Neighbors responded with alacrity to the woman's cry for help.

alleviate

(verb) to relieve, make more bearable

syn: lesson, lighten, allay, mitigate, assuage

The doctors and nurses did everything they could to alleviate the patient's severe pain.

antithesis

(noun) the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

syn: contrary, antipode

Discriminatory practices may be said to constitute the very antithesis of our nation's democratic ideals.

appall

(verb) to fill with dismay or horror

syn: shock, stun, stupefy, horrify ant: please, cheer, gladden, elate, exhilarate

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 appalled the nation and the world.

bellicose

(adjective) warlike in manner or temperament; quarrelsome

syn: aggressive, combative, belligerent ant: amicable, peaceable, conciliatory, pacific

Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy was often driver by a rather bellicose brand of patriotism.

disparage

(verb) to belitte, speak slightingly of; to undervalue

syn: degrade, decry, run down, underrate ant: praise, extol, laud, plug

Don't you think voters are getting awfully tired of listening to politicians disparage their opponents' voting records?

dissonant

(adjective) not in harmony; disagreeing, at odds

syn: grating, strident, unmelodious, irreconcilable ant: harmonious, agreeing, euphonious

The clamor of dissonant voices could be heard clearly through the closed doors of the meeting room.

droll

(adjective) amusingly odd

syn: comical, humorous, whimsical, zany ant: humorless, solemn, dour

The hero or heroine of a popular sitcom may be surrounded by a cast of droll eccentrics.

edict

(noun) an order issued by someone in authority

syn: command, decree, proclamation

Only in fairy tales can human unhappiness and misery be banished forever by royal edict.

elucidate

(verb) to clarify, explain

syn: interpret, expound, explicate ant: obscure, becloud, muddy, obfuscate

The precise meaning of a passage in Middlemarch is sometimes hard to elucidate.

laud

(verb) to praise

syn: hail, extol, glorify, exalt ant: criticize, censure, belittle, disparage

At the assemble the principal lauded both students and teachers for the schoolwide improvement in reading scores.

loll

(verb) to act in a lazy manner; to lounge; to recline, droop

syn: loaf, loiter, sag, dangle

There is nothing I would rather do on a hot, humid summer afternoon than loll in a hammock under a tree.

loquacious

(adjective) talkative, wordy; fond of talking

syn: gossipy, voluble, garrulous, long-winded ant: silent, reticent, closemouthed, terse, taciturn

My dinner companion was so loquacious that our conversation quickly turned into a monologue.

magnanimous

(adjective) generous in forgiving, above small meanness

syn: unselfish, charitable, noble, bighearted ant: petty, selfish, unforgiving, spiteful

The general's victory was so decisive that he could afford to be magnanimous toward his former enemies.

mandatory

(adjective) required, obligatory

syn: compulsory, requisite, imperative ant: optional, voluntary, discretionary

A union contrast may stipulate that members are t0 receive a mandatory annual cost-of-living increase.

nondescript

(adjective) ordinary, not outstanding; not easily classified

syn: plain, unremarkable, unimpressive ant: distinctive, remarkable, vivid, prepossessing

Fashion critics judged the designer's clothing like to be disappointingly nondescript.

phlegmatic

(adjective) slow-moving, sluggish; unemotional

syn: lethargic, indolent, torpid, stolid, impassive ant: emotional, sensitive, thin-skinned, excitable

Sloths are such phlegmatic creature that they have earned the reputation of being the slowest animals on Earth.

rescind

(verb) to repeal, cancel

syn: withdraw, revoke, retract, annul, abrogate ant: affirm, endorse, uphold, ratify

A sitting Congress sometimes rescinds statutes passed by its predecessors.

vivacious

(adjective) lively, sprightly, full of energy

syn: spirited, animated, ebullient ant: dull, spiritless, listless, indolent, languid

A vivacious individual will certainly never lack for companions.

whet

(verb) to sharpen, put an edge on; to make keen or eager

syn: hone, excite, stimulate ant: dull, blunt, deaden, stifle, dampen

In most mystery novels, the first character is designed to whet your curiosity to find out "who done it."