Vocab Level H Unit 4-6

bilious

(adj.) peevish or irritable; sickeningly unpleasant

SYN: choleric, irascible, peevish, splenetic

ANT: sweet-tempered, genial, pleasant, delightful

cognate

(adj.) closely related in origin, essential nature, or function; (n.) such a person or thing

SYN: (adj.) allied, affiliated; (n.) relative

ANT: (adj.) dissimilar, unrelated

corollary

(n.) a proposition that follows from one already proven; a natural consequence or result; (adj.) resultant or consequent

SYN: (n.) deduction, conclusion

ANT: (n.) axiom, postulate, premise

derring-do

(n.) valor or heroism; daring deeds or exploits (often used to poke fun at false heroics)

SYN: audacity, bravado, pyrotechnics

ANT: cowardice, timidity, poltroonery

folderol

(n.) foolish talk, ideas, or procedures; nonsense; a trifle

SYN: hoopla, gibberish

ANT: sense, significance

gamut

(n.) an entire range or series

SYN: scope, compass, sweep

ineffable

(adj.) not expressible in words; too great or too sacred to be uttered

SYN: inexpressible, indescribable

lucubration

(n.) laborious study or thought, especially at night; the result of such work

SYN: burning the midnight oil, deep thought

obloquy

(n.) public abuse indicating strong disapproval or censure; the disgrace resulting from such treatment

SYN: discredit, opprobrium, ignominy, dishonor

ANT: praise, acclaim, approbation

pundit

(n.) a learned person; one who gives authoritative opinions

SYN: expert, authority, savant

ANT: layman, amateur, dilettante

risible

(adj.) pertaining to laughter; able or inclined to laugh; laughable

SYN: droll, ludicrous

ANT: depressing, poignant, heartrending

votte-face

(n.) an about-face; a complete reversal

SYN: turnabout

commensurate

(adj.) equal in size, extent, duration, or importance; proportionate; measurable by the same standards

SYN: comparable, corresponding, coordinate

diaphanous

(adj.) very sheer and light; almost completely transparent

SYN: translucent, gossamer

ANT: opaque, coarse, dense

emolument

(n.) profit derived from an office or position or from employment; a fee or salary

SYN: pay, wages, compensation

foray

(n.) a quick raid, especially for plunder; a venture into some field of endeavor; (v.) to make such a raid

SYN: (n.) sally, sortie

ANT: (n.) retreat, strategic withdrawal

immure

(v.) to enclose or confine within walls; to imprison; to seclude or isolate

SYN: incarcerate, mew up

ANT: release, liberate, emancipate

insouciant

(adj.) blithely indifferent or unconcerned; carefree; happy-go-lucky

SYN: nonchalant, blase, devil-may-care

ANT: worried, careworn, agitate, distraught

obsequies

(n.) funeral rites or ceremonies

SYN: last rites, funeral services

panache

(n.) a confident and stylish manner, dash; a strikingly elaborate or colorful display

SYN: style, verve, elan, eclat, flamboyance

philippic

(n.) a bitter verbal attack

SYN: harangue, tirade, diatribe

ANT: encomium, panegyric, tribute

prurient

(adj.) having lustful desires or interests; tending to arouse sexual desires

SYN: lascivious, salacious, lewd, titillating

ANT: prudish, demure, innocent

sacrosanct

(adj.) very sacred or holy; inviolable; set apart or immune from questioning or attack

tendentious

(adj.) intended to promote a particular point of view, doctrine, or cause; biased or partisan

SYN: partial

ANT: fair, impartial, equitable, disinterested

vicissitude

(n.) a change, variation, or alteration; (pl.) successive or changing phases or conditions

SYN: fluctuation, vacillation

ANT: sameness, evenness

bruit

(v.) to spread news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors

SYN: noise abroad, broadcast, blazon

ANT: cover up, conceal, hush up

contumelious

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

SYN: vituperative, scurrilous, excoriating

ANT: laudatory, commendatory, deferential

dictum

(n.) a short saying; an authoritative statement

SYN: maxim, precept, aphorism, axiom

iconoclastic

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

SYN: image-breaking, irreverent, heretical

ANT: orthodox, conservative, reverent

in medias res

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

internecine

(adj.) mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed

SYN: murderous, savage, ruinous

ANT: peaceful, harmonious, cinstructive

maladroit

(adj.) lacking skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgment

SYN: inept, awkward, clumsy, gauche

ANT: skillful, dexterous, deft, tactful

maudlin

(adj.) excessively or effusively sentimental

SYN: mushy, mawkish

portentous

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

SYN: forboding, ominoius, pretenstious

ANT: auspicious, propitious, encouraging

prescience

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

SYN: foreknowledge

ANT: hindsight

salubrious

(adj.) conducive to health or well-being; wholesome

SYN: beneficial, healthy, invigorating

ANT: harmful, unhealthy, deleterious, noxious

touchstone

(n.) a means of testing worth or genuineness

SYN: criterion, yardstick, benchmark

vitiate

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

SYN: degrade, undermine

ANT: purify, fortify, strengthen, enhance

hoi polloi

(n.) the common people, the masses

SYN: rank and file

ANT: aristocracy, elite, upper class

parameter

(n.) a determining or characteristic element; a factor that shapes the total outcome; a limit, boundary

symptomatic

(adj.) typical or characteristic; being or concerned with a symptom of a disease

SYN: indicative

aficionado

(n.) an enthusiastic and usually expert follower or fan

SYN: devotee, enthusiast

browbeat

(v.) to intimidate by a stern or overbearing manner; to bully

SYN: cow, coerce

ANT: coax, cajole, wheedle, sweet-talk

genre

(n.) a type, class, or variety, especially a distinctive category of literary composition; a style of painting in which everyday scenes are realistically depicted

SYN: species, sort, school

homily

(n.) a sermon stressing moral principles; a tedious moralizing lecture or discourse

matrix

(n.) a mold; the surrounding situation or environment

SYN: pattern, model

persona

(n.) a character in a novel or play; the outward character or role that a person assumes

SYN: personality, image, role

systemic

(adj.) of or pertaining to the entire body; relating to a system or systems

SYN: extensive, comprehensive, system-wide

ANT: localized, specific, isolated, confined

abortive

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

SYN: miscarried, fruitless, premature

ANT: successful, realized, consummated

ensconce

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

SYN: nestle, lodge, entrench

ANT: unseat, displace, oust

modulate

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

SYN: adapt, moderate

quid pro quo

(n.) something given in exchange or return for something else

SYN: swap, trade

traumatic

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

SYN: jolting

ANT: soothing, comforting, agreeable, pleasant

waggish

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

SYN: whimsical, jocular

ANT: serious, grave, grim, dour, humorless

affinity

(n.) a natural attraction to a person, thing, or activity; a relationship, connection

SYN: inclination, penchant

ANT: distaste, aversion

cul-de-sac

(n.) a blind alley or dead-end street; any situation in which further progress is impossible; an impasse

divination

(n.) the art or act of predicting the future or discovering hidden knowledge

SYN: prophecy, augury

elixir

(n.) a potion once thought capable of curing all ills and maintaining life indefinitely; a panacea; a sweet liquid used as a vehicle in medicines

SYN: cure-all. nostrum, tonic

mnemonic

(adj.) relating to or designed to assist the memory; (n.) a device to aid the memory

SYN: (n.) reminder, cue

saturnalian

(adj.) characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness

SYN: dissipated, debauched, orgiastic

ANT: sedate, prim, decorous, seemly