Sadlier Vocab Level G Unit 1-3

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

SYN: shortsighted

ANT: farsighted

overt

(adj.) open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

SYN: clear, obvious, manifest, patent

ANT: clandestine, covert, concealed

pejorative

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

ANT: complimentary, ameliorative

propriety

(n.) the state of being proper, appropriateness

(pl.) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

SYN: fitness, correctness

ANT: unseemliness, inappropriateness

sacrilege

(n.) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

SYN: desecration, profanation, defilement

summarily

(adv.) without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

SYN: promptly, peremptorily

suppliant

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly

(n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

talisman

(n.) an object that serves as charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

undulate

(v.) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

SYN: fluctuate, rise and fall

Acquisitive

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

Arrogate

(v.) to claim or take without right

Banal

(adj.) hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Belabor

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

Carping

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

Coherent

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

Congeal

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

Emulate

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

Encomium

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

Eschew

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

Germane

(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Insatiable

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

Intransigent

(adj.) refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

Invidious

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

Largesse

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

Reconnaissance

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

Substantiate

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

Taciturn

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

Temporize

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

Tenable

(adj.) capable of being held or defended