English IV Vocabulary 6

abortive

failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose; only partially or imperfectly developed \n \n SYNONYMS: miscarried, fruitless, premature \n ANTONYMS: Successful, realized, consummated

bruit

to spread news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors \n \n SYNONYMS: noise abroad, broadcast, blazon \n ANTONYMS: cover up, conceal, hush up

contumelious

insolent or rude in speech or behavior; insultingly abusive; humiliating \n \n SYNONYMS: vituperative, scurrilous, excoriating ANTONYMS laudatory. commendatory, deferential

dictum

a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle \n \n SYNONYMS: maxim, precept, aphorism, axiom

ensconce

to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place \n \n SYNONYMS: neste, lodge, entrench \n ANTONYME unseat, displace, oust

iconoclastic

attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions \n \n SYNONYMS: image-breaking, irreverent, heretical \n ANTONYMS orthodox, conservative, reverent

in medias res

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

internecine

mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed \n \n SYNONYMS: murderous, savage, ruinous \n ANTONYMS: peaceful, harmonious, constructive

maladroit

(adj.) lacking skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgment \n \n SYNONYM: inept, awkward, cumay gune \n ANTONYM skillful, dexterous, deft, tactful

Maudilin

excessively or effusively sentimental \n \n SYNONYM: mushy mawksh

modulate

(v.) to change or vary the intensity or pitch; to temper or soften; to regulate, adjust \n \n SYNONYM: swadapt, moderate

protentous

foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self-consciously weighty, pompous \n \n SYNONYMS: foreboding, ominous, pratentious \n ANTONYMS: suspicious, propitious, encouraging

prescience

knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight \n \n SYNONYMS:foreknowledge \n ANTONYMS: hindsight

quid pro quo

something given in exchange or return for something else \n \n SYNONYMS: Swap, trade

salubrious

conducive to health or well-being; wholesome \n \n SYNONYMS: beneficial, healthy, invigorating \n ANTONYMS harmful, unhealthy, deleterious, noxious

saturnalian

characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness \n \n SYNONYMS: dissipated, debauched, orgiastic \n ANTONYMS: sedate, prim, decorous, seemly

touchstone

a means of testing worth or genuineness \n \n SYNONYMS criterion, yardstick, benchmark

traumatic

so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage \n \n SYNONYM: jolting \n ANTONYMS: Soothing, comforting, agreeable, pleasant

vitilate

to weaken, debase, or corrupt; to impair the quality or value of \n \n SYNONYMS: degrade, undermine \n ANTONYMS: purify, fortify, strengthen, enhance

waggish

(adj.) fond of making jokes; characteristic of a joker; playfully humorous or droll \n \n SYNONYMS: whimsical, jocular \n ANTONYMS: serious, grave, grim, dour, humorless