Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop Level H: Unit 1

adjunct

(noun): something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential; an assistant or helper; a valuable quality or characteristic

(adjective): added or connected in a subordinate capacity; attached to a faculty or staff in an auxiliary capacity

SYN: (n.) associate, addition, accessory

bellwether

(noun): the male sheep that leads the flock to the slaughterhouse; a leader, as in a desperate or violent undertaking; an indicator of trends

SYN: ringleader, initiator, barometer

ANT: follower, imitator, emulator

caterwaul

(verb): to howl or screech like a cat; to quarrel

(noun): a harsh or noisy cry; a racket

SYN: (v.) whine; (n.) screech

chimerical

(adjective): absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible

SYN: visionary, quixotic, pie-in-the-sky

ANT: realistic, down-to-earth, practicable

effete

(adjective): lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out-of-date

SYN: decadent, enfeebled

ANT: thriving, burgeoning, vigorous, dynamic

fait accompli

(noun): an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed, fact, or action

SYN: accomplished fact

hidebound

(adjective): narrow-minded and rigid, especially in opinions or prejudices; stubbornly and unthinkingly conservative

SYN: intolerant, inflexible

ANT: open-minded, tolerant, progressive, liberal

hierarchy

(noun): any system of things or people arranged or graded one above another in order of rank, wealth, class, etc.

SYN: chain of command

laissez-faire

(adjective): a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference, especially with individual freedom of choice and action

SYN: noninterventional, nonrestrictive, hands-off

liturgy

(noun): a religious service or rite; the form of a ritual or other act of public worship

SYN: observance

morass

(noun): a patch of low, soft, wet ground; a swamp; a confusing situation in which one in entrapped, as in quicksand

SYN: bog

ANT: solid ground, bedrock, terra firma

noisome

(adjective): offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

oblivious

(adjective): forgetful; unaware

SYN: insensible

ANT: aware, cognizant, mindful, alert

poltroon

(noun): a base coward

SYN: craven, dastard, "chicken"

ANT: stalwart, gallant

proselyte

(noun): a convert; a disciple

SYN: novice, neophyte

ANT: master, teacher, guide, guru

quasi

(adjective): resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or completely

SYN: kind of, as if

ANT: totally, completely, actually, in fact

raillery

(noun): good-humored ridicule; teasing

SYN: persiflage

ribald

(adjective): irreverently mocking; coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language

SYN: risque

ANT: seemly, proper, decorous

supine

(adjective): lying flat on one's back; listless or lethargic; apathetic or passive

SYN: prone, prostrate, inert

ANT: upright, erect, perpendicular, vertical

vignette

(noun): a short description or sketch; a picture or illustration with edges that gradually shade off; a decorative design on the title page of a book at the beginning or end of a chapter

SYN: thumbnail sketch, anecdote

ANT: epic, full-length treatment