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ignominy
shame and humilitation
she had to endure the ignominy of being forced to resign.
noisome
offensive, foul-smelling
enigma
mystery
adumbrate
to foreshadow
bemused
confused
apathy (coolness, disinterest, disregard, impassivity, indifference, insensibility, lassitude, lethargy, listlessness, phlegm, stolidity, unconcern, unresponsiveness): noun
a lack of interest, feeling and emotions
the apathy of voters is so great that less than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so.
loathing
extremely dislike
she regarded his hypocrisy with loathing.
whim and fancy
a passing thought
cupidity (avarice, covetousness; rapacity): noun
greed; strong desire
- the thief stared at the shining jewels with cupidity in his gleaming eyes.
dictum (adage, aphorism, apothegm, decree; edict): noun
an authoritative statement
- "you have time to lean, you have time to clean," was the dictum our boss made us live by.
diffident (backward, bashful; coy; demure; modest; retiring; self-effacing; shy; timid): adj.
lacking self-confidence
- steve was diffident during the job interview because of his nervous nature and lack of experience in the field.
dilatory (dragging, flagging, laggard, lagging; slow, slow-footed; slow-going; slow-paced; tardy): adj
intended to delay
- the congresswoman used dilatory measures to delay the passage of the bill.
dilettante (amateur; dabbler; superficial, tyro); noun
someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic
- jerry's friends were such dilettantes, they seemed to have new jobs and hobbies every week.
craven (fainthearted; spineless; timid): adj.
lacking courage
- the craven lion cringed in the corner of his cage, terrified of the mouse.
acrimony
"bitterness"
the dispute continued with increased acrimony
penury
extreme poverty
descry
to detect by looking carefully
zeal (ardency: fervor; fire; passion): noun
passion; excitement
she brought her typical zeal to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members.
antagonism toward
dislike or conflict
sojourning
staying temporarily
persevering
being persistent or overcoming obstacles
confiscatory
seizing property
dogmatic
someone that is very opinionated
hypothesis
guess
spurious and fallacious
falseness
terse and succint
not using many words
bellicose
looking for a fight
blithe
cheerful or without worries
spurn and renounce
to put aside or reject
extol and eulogize
to praise highly
crescendo (acme; capstone; climax; crest; culmination; meridian; peak): noun
a steady increase in volume or force
- the detective novel's intricate plotting has masterfully created a crescendo of suspense in the pages leading to the revelation of the perpetrator's identity.
debutante (lady, maiden): noun
a young woman making debut in high society
- the debutante spent hours dressing for her very first ball, hoping to catch the eye of an eligible bachelor.
declivity (decline, descent, drop; grade; pitch; slant; slope; tilt): noun
a downward slope
- because the village was situated on the declivity of a hill, it never flooded.
diaphanous (gauzy; sheer; tenuous; translucent; transparent): adj.
allowing light to show through; delicate
- these diaphanous curtains do nothing to block out the sunlight.
diatribe (fulmination, harangue, invective, jeremiad, malediction; obloquy, tirade): noun
an abusive, condemnatory speech
- the trucker bellowed a diatribe at the driver who had cut him off.
divine (auger, foresee, intuit; predict; presage): verb
to foretell or know by inspiration
- the fortune-teller divined from the pattern of the tea leaves that her customer would marry five times.
gregarious
sociable
appraise
determine the value of something
ascertain
to make certain of
assay
to evaluate, analyze
peruse
reading thoroughly
dogma and tenet
idea held to be true
curmudgeon (coot; crab; grouch): noun
a cranky person, usually an old one
- ernesto was a notorious curmudgeon who snapped at anyone who disturbed him for any reason.
dilate (amplify, develop, elaborate, enlarge, expand; expatiate): verb
to make larger; to expand
- when you enter a darkened room, the pupils of your eyes dilate so as to let in more light.
disabuse (correct, undeceive): verb
to set right; to free from error
- galileo's observations disabused scholars of the notion that the sun revolved around the earth.
capitulate
"neither side would back down"
impasse
"reached a point of no negotiating"
annex
add
paltry: adj.
"inferior"
built paltry houses unfit for occupancy
truculent
"aggressive; savage; cruel; hostile" or quick to argue
dupe (beguile, betray, bluff; deceive; delude; fool; hoodwink; humbug; mislead; take in; trick): verb
to deceive
- the scammer attempted to dupe people into believing his emails were from official sources, but the numerous spelling errors made the deception obvious.
dyspeptic (acerbic, melancholy, morose, solemn, sour): adj.
suffering from indigestion; gloomy and irritable
- the dyspeptic young man cast a gloom over the party the minute he walked in.
edify (educate, enlighten, guide, teach): verb
to instruct morally and spiritually
- the guru was paid to edify the actress in the ways of buddhism
efficacy (dynamism; effectiveness; efficiency; force; power; productiveness; proficiency; strength; vigor): noun
effectiveness
- the efficacy of penicillin was unsurpassed when it was first introduced; the drug completely eliminated almost all bacterial infections.
effigy (dumy, figure, image): noun
a stuffed doll; a likeness of a person
- protestors burned effigies of the unpopular leader.
effrontery (brashness, gall, nerve, presumption, temerity): noun
impudent boldness; audacity
- the receptionist had the effrontery to laugh out loud when the ceo tripped over a computer wire and fell flat on his face.
discern (catch, descry, detect, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, espy, glimpse, know, separate, spot, spy, tell): verb
to perceive or recognize
- it is easy to discern the difference between butter and butter-flavored topping
dirge (elegy; lament): noun
a funeral hymn or mournful speech
- melville wrote a dirge for the funeral of james mcpherson, a union general who was killed in 1864.
elegy (dirge, lament): noun
a sorrowful poem or speech
- though the beautiful elegy is about death and loss, it urges it readers to endure this life, and to trust in spirituality.
eloquent (articulate, expressive, fluent, meaningful, significant, smooth-spoken): adj.
persuasive and moving, especially in speech
- the gettysburg address is moving not only because of its lofty sentiments but because of its eloquent words
winsome (attractive; delightful): adj.
charming; happily engaging
lenore gave the doorman a winsome smile, and he let her pass to the front of the line.
wizened (atrophied, desiccated, gnarled; wasted): adj.
shriveled; withered; wrinkled
the wizened old man was told that the plastic surgery necessary to make him look young again would cost more than he could imagine.
wraith (apparition, bogeyman, phantasm, shade, spirit): noun
a ghost or specter; a ghost of a living person seen just before his or her death
gideon thought he saw a wraith late one night as he sat vigil outside his dying uncle’s bedroom door.
xenophobia (bigotry, chauvinism, prejudice): noun
a fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers.
countries in which xenophobia is prevalent often have more restrictive immigration policies than countries that are more open to foreign influences.
yoke (bind, harness, pair): verb
to join together
as soon as the farmer had yoked his oxen together, he began to plow the fields.
zeal (ardency; fervor; fire; passion): noun
passion; excitement
she brought her typical zeal to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members.
wily (crafty; cunning; tricky): adj.
clever; deceptive
yet again, the wily fox managed to elude the ranchers who wanted to capture it.
whimsical (erratic, flippant, frivolous): adj.
lightly acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable; playful
the ballet was whimsical, delighting the children with its imaginative characters and unpredictable sets.
waver (dither; falter; fluctuate; oscillate; vacillate): verb
to fluctuate between choices
if you waver too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice.
wanton (capricious; lewd; licentious): adj.
undisciplined; unrestrained; reckless
the townspeople were outraged by the wanton display of disrespect when they discovered the statue of the town founder covered in graffiti.
mercurial (clever, crafty, volatile, whimsical): adj
quick, shrewd, and unpredictable
her mercurial personality made it difficult to guess how she would react to the bad news.
meretricious (flashy, insincere, loud, specious, tawdry): adj.
gaudy; falsely attractive
the casino’s meretricious decor horrified the cultivated interior designer.
zenith (acme, pinnacle): noun
the point of culmination; peak
the diva considered her appearance at the metropiltan opera to be the zenith of her career.
zephyr (breath; draft): noun
a gentle breeze: something airy or unsubstantial
the zephyr from the ocean made the intense heat on the beach bearable from the sunbathers.
zealot (enthusiast, fanatic, militant, radical): noun
someone passionately devoted to a cause
the religious zealot had no time for those who failed to share his strong beliefs.
acme (apex; peak; summit): noun
the highest point; the summit; the highest level or degree attainable
just when he reached the acme of his power, the dictator was overthrown
acidulous (acerbic, acetous, biting, piquant; pungent, tart): adj.
sour in taste or manner
the acidulous taste of the spoiled milk made the young boy’s lips pucker.
accretion (accumulation; buildup): noun
a gradual growth in size; an increase in amount
the committee’s strong fund-raising efforts resulted in an accretion in scholarship money.
abyss (chasm, void) : noun
an extremely deep hole
the submarine dove into the abyss to chart the previously unseen depths.
abstemious (abstinent, continent; self-restraining; sober; temperate): adj.
moderate in appetite; practicing moderation or abstinence
because alyce is a vegetarian, she was able to eat only an abstemious meal at the texas steakhouse.
abstain (forbear, refrain, withhold): verb
to choose not to do something
before the medical procedure, you must abstain from eating.
abscond (decamp, escape, flee): verb
to leave secretly
the patron absconded from the restaurant without paying his bill by sneaking out the back door.
droll (comic, entertaining, funny, risible, witty): adj.
amusing in a wry, subtle way
although the play couldn’t be described as the funniest theatrical performance the city had ever seen, it was certainly droll.
ebullient (ardent, avid, bubbly, zestful): adj
exhilarated; full of enthusiasm and high spirits
the ebullient child exhausted the babysitter, who lacked the energy to keep up with her,
abase (demean, humiliate): verb
to humble; to disgrace
my intention was not to abase the comedian.
abate (ebb, lapse, let up; moderate; relent; slacken; subside; wane): verb
to reduce in amount, degree, or severity
as the hurricane’s force abated, the winds dropped and the sea became calm.
abdicate (cede, quit, relinquish, resign; yield): verb
to give up a position, right, or power
with the angry mob clamoring outside the palace, the king abdicated his throne and fled.
aberrant (abnormal, anomalous, deviant, divergent, errant, irregular): adj.
deviating from what is normal or expected
since he had been a steady, cheerful worker for many years, his fellow postal workers did not expect his aberrant burst of rage.
abeyance (deferral, delay, dormancy; postponement; remission): noun
temporary suppression or suspension
the baseball game was held in abeyance while it continued to rain.
abjure (forswear; recall; recant; retract; take back):verb
to reject; to abandon formally
the spy abjured his allegiance to the united states when he defected to russia.
variegated (diversified): adj.
varied; marked with different colors
the variegated foliage of the jungle allows it to support thousands of different animal species.
venerable (distinguished; elderly; esteemed; respectable): adj.
worthy of respect or reverence due to age, wisdom, dignity, or position
all of the villagers sought the venerable old woman’s advice whenever they had a problem.
venerate (adore, honor, idolize, revere): verb
to respect deeply
in a traditional confucian society, the young venerate their elders, deferring to the elders’ wisdom and experience.
veracity (candor, exactitude, fidelity, probity): noun
filled with truth and accuracy
she had a reputation for veracity, so everyone trusted her description of events.
verbose (long-winded; loquacious; prolix; superfluous): adj.
wordy
the professor’s answer was so verbose that his student forgot what the original question had been.
verdant (grassy; leafy; naive; wooded; unsophisticated): adj.
green with vegetation; inexperienced
he wandered deep into the verdant woods in search of mushrooms and other edible flora.
vernal (springlike, youthful): adj.
related to spring; fresh
bea basked in the balmy vernal breezes, happy that winter was coming to an end
vestige (relic, remains; sign): noun
a trace; a remnant
vestiges of the former tenant still remained in the apartment, though
he hadn’t live there for years.
vex (annoy, bother, chafe, exasperate, irk, nettle, peeve, provoke): verb
to annoy, irritate, puzzle, or confuse
the old man who loved his peace and quiet was vexed by his neighbor’s loud music.
vicissitude (inconstancy, mutability): noun
a change or variation
investors must be prepared for vicissitudes of the stock market.