vocab

Acquisitive

(adj.) Able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property.

(SYN: greedy, avaricious, retentive)

(ANT: altruistic)

Arrogate

(v.) To claim or take without right.

(SYN: expropriate, commandeer)

(ANT: renounce, abdicate, abandon)

Banal

(adj.) Hackneyed, trite, commonplace.

(SYN: stale, insipid)

(ANT: fresh, original, new)

Belabor

(v.) To work on excessively; to thrash soundly.

(SYN: overwork)

Carping

(adj.) Tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; (n.) petty, nagging criticism.

(SYN: nit-picking, caviling)

(ANT: approving, uncritical)

Coherent

(adj.) Holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful.

(SYN: connected, unified, consistent, cohesive)

(ANT: muddled, chaotic, disjointed)

Congeal

(v.) To change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid.

(SYN: harden, jell, solidify)

(ANT: liquefy)

Emulate

(v.) To imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model.

(SYN: copy, mimic, rival, match, measure up to)

Encomium

(n.) A formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute.

(SYN: panegyric, eulogy)

(ANT: condemnation, castigation, criticism)

Eschew

(v.) To avoid, shun, keep away from.

(SYN: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo)

(ANT: embrace, adopt)

Germane

(adj.) Relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting.

(SYN: pertinent)

(ANT: irrelevant, extraneous, inappropriate)

Insatiable

(adj.) So great or demanding as not to be satisfied.

(SYN: unquenchable, ravenous)

Intransigent

(adj.) Refusing to compromise, irreconcilable.

(SYN: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate)

(ANT: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding)

Invidious

(adj.) Offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment.

(SYN: malicious, spiteful, prejudicial, pejorative)

(ANT: flattering, ameliorative)

Largesse

(n.) Generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions.

(SYN: liberality, bounty)

(ANT: stinginess, miserliness, niggardliness)

Reconnaissance

(n.) A survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination.

(SYN: exploration)

Substantiate

(v.) To establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to.

(SYN: confirm, validate, authenticate)

(ANT: refute, disprove, invalidate)

Taciturn

(adj.) Habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little.

(SYN: tight-lipped, uncommunicative, laconic)

(ANT: garrulous, loquacious, prolix, verbose)

Temporize

(v.) To stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise.

(SYN: dillydally, procrastinate)

Tenable

(adj.) Capable of being held or defended.

(SYN: defensible, justifiable, maintainable)

(ANT: indefensible, unjustifiable)

accost

(v.) to approach and speak first, to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

SYN: buttonhole, approach

ANT: avoid, shun

animadversion

(n.) a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

SYN: rebuke, reproof

ANT: praise, compliment

avid

(adj.) desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

SYN: keen, enthusiastic, grasping

ANT: reluctant, indifference, unenthusiastic

brackish

(adj.) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

SYN: saline

ANT clear, sweet

celerity

(n.) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

SYN: promptness, speed

ANT: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

devious

(adj.) straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

SYN: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful

ANT: direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard

gambit

(n.) 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

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

SYN: (adj.) tranquil, placid, palmy

ANT: (adj.) turbulent, tumultuous

histrionic

(adj.) pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial, melodramatic

SYN: affected, stagy

ANT: muted, untheatrical, subdued

incendiary

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife per rebellion

(n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonists, one who causes strife

SYN: (adj.) inflammatory, provocative; (n.) firebrand

ANT: (adj.) soothing, quieting; (n.) peacemaker

maelstrom

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

SYN: chaos, turbulence, tumult

myopic

(adj.) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment