Sadlier Oxford's Vocabulary Workshop Level H Unit 5

Aficionado

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

Synonyms: devotee, enthusiast

Browbeat

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

Synonyms: cow, coerce

Antonyms: coax, cajole, wheedle, sweet-talk

Commensurate

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

Synonyms: comparable, corresponding, coordinate

Diaphanous

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

Synonyms: translucent, gossamer

Antonyms: opaque, coarse, dense

Emolument

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

Synonyms: pay wages, compensation

Foray

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

Synonyms: (n.) sally, sortie

Antonyms: (n.) retreat, strategic, withdrawal

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.

Synonyms: species, sort, school

Homily

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

Immure

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

Synonyms: incarcerate, mew up

Antonyms: release, liberate, emancipate

Insouciant

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

Synonyms: nonchalant, blase, devil-may-care

Antonyms: worried, careworn, agitated, distraught

Matrix

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

Synonyms: pattern, model

Obsequies

(n.) funeral rites or ceremonies

Synonyms: last rites, funeral services

Panache

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

Synonyms: style, verve, élan, éclat, flamboyance

Persona

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

Synonyms: personality, image, role

Philippic

(n.) a bitter verbal attack

Antonyms: encomium, panegyric, tribute

Prurient

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

Synonyms: lascivious, salacious, lewd, titillating

Antonyms: prudish, demure, innocent

Sacrosanct

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

Systemic

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

Synonyms: extensive, comprehensive, system-wide

Antonyms: localized, specific, isolated, confined

Tendentious

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

Synonym: partial

Antonyms: fair, impartial, equitable, disinterested

Vicissitude

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

Synonyms: fluctuation, vacillation

Antonyms: sameness, evenness