Lesson 4 APLANG Vocab

Vocabulary Words and Definitions

Page 1

• Aesthetic (noun/adjective)

  • Relating or pertaining to a sense of beauty or art

  • Example: He is considered to have aesthetic tastes because he loves beauty and the arts.

• Aloof (Adjective)

  • Apart, indifferent

  • Example: The woman remained aloof during the party, separating herself from everyone else.

  • Synonyms: detached, unconcerned

  • Antonyms: integrated, friendly

• Archaic (Adjective)

  • Antiquated; old to use

  • Example: Words such as "thou" which are no longer part of normal vocabulary, are archaic.

  • Synonyms: ancient, antique

  • Antonyms: modern, contemporary

• Assuage (verb)

  • To ease, to mitigate, to make less painful or burdensome, to calm

  • Example: Your kind words should assuage her suffering.

  • Synonyms: alleviate, lighten, soothe

  • Antonyms: to intensify, to irritate

• Belie (verb)

  • To contradict; to give a false impression

  • Example: Her words first appeared to belie all the wonderful things I heard about her.

  • Synonyms: to contradict

  • Antonyms: to support; to agree with

• Contentious (adjective)

  • Quarrelsome; stirring controversy

  • Example: My contentious child will not listen to any form of reason

  • Synonyms: controversial, disputed

  • Antonyms: harmonious

• Daunt (verb)

  • To intimidate; to dismay

  • Example: I am not daunted by your threats.

  • Synonyms: intimidated

  • Antonyms: to hearten

• Debilitate (verb)

  • To weaken; to enfeeble

  • Example: I was debilitated by my bout with pneumonia

  • Synonyms: weakening, tiring

  • Antonyms: strengthen, restorative

• Discord (noun)

  • Lack of agreement; tension; strife

  • Example: There is a lot of discord in the nation over the issue of abortion

  • Synonyms: conflict, hostility

  • Antonyms: agreement, harmony

• Dissemination (noun)

  • The act of spreading widely; scattering

  • Example: The dissemination of these ideas can best be achieved through television

  • Synonyms: spreading, distribution

Page 2

• Dogmatic (adjective)

  • Strongly opinionated in an unwarranted manner

  • Example: He was so dogmatic that having an intelligent discussion with him was impossible

  • Synonyms: dictatorial

  • Antonyms: unopinionated, wishy-washy

• Duplicity (noun)

  • Double-dealing; hypocrisy

  • Example: His duplicity was exposed when the girl he was seeing found out he was married.

  • Synonyms: deception

  • Antonyms: sincerity

• Egocentric (adjective)

  • Self-centered; selfish

  • Example: Egocentric people rarely show any concern for others.

  • Synonyms: self-centered

  • Antonyms: modest

• Euphemism (noun)

  • Substitution of an inoffensive term for one that is offensive

  • Example: People frequently use a euphemism for the word "died"; they commonly say someone "passed away".

  • Synonyms: polite term

  • Antonyms: coarse expression

• Gluttonous (adjective)

  • Greedy for food and drink

  • Example: I am so gluttonous that I would have great difficulty dieting.

  • Synonyms: bigback

  • Antonyms: temperate

• Mundane (adjective)

  • Ordinary; commonplace

  • Example: After I take care of these mundane matters, we can do something exciting.

  • Synonyms: dull, boring

  • Antonyms: unusual, outstanding

• Ominous (adjective)

  • Threatening

  • Example: The ominous clouds were harbingers of the tornado

  • Synonyms: fateful, portentous

  • Antonyms: harmless; non-threatening

• Petulance (noun)

  • Unreasonable touchiness or irritability

  • Example: Petulance is sometimes the trait of a child who is not getting his way.

  • Synonyms: impatience

  • Antonyms: serenity

Page 3

• Precocious (adjective)

  • Exceptionally early in development or occurrence

  • Example: A child prodigy is a young person who is very precocious

  • Synonyms: advanced

  • Antonyms: backward

• Slothful (adjective)

  • Lazy; indolent

  • Example: That student is so slothful that he has never done any of his homework assignments

  • Synonyms: bovine

  • Antonyms: industrious

• Trivia (noun)

  • Insignificant matters

  • Example: The English teacher is losing substance, not trivia, in themes.

  • Synonyms: technicalities

  • Antonyms: essentials

• Verbose (adjective)

  • Wordy; very talkative

  • Example: The professor is so verbose that it takes him an hour to cover material that should take fifteen minutes.

  • Synonyms: wordy

  • Antonyms: succinct

• Virulent (adjective)

  • Extremely poisonous; hateful

  • Example: The doctor prescribed a lot of medication to arrest the virulent infection

  • Synonyms: poisonous, toxic

  • Antonyms: amicable, benevolent

• Volatile (adjective)

  • Quickly changeable; easily vaporized

  • Example: Because of his volatile temper, one must be cautious in dealing with him

  • Synonyms: explosive, tense

  • Antonyms: stable, calm