Word, part of speech | Definition | Synonym & Antonym | Sentence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harrowing, adjective | Really disturbing or distressing | S: heartbreaking, agonizing, painful A: calm, comfort, heartening | What she went through when her mother died was truly harrowing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fastidious, adjective | Giving extreme attention to details, excessively concerned with cleanliness, hard to please. | S: exacting, hypercritical, picky A: easy-going, sloppy | He was the most fastidious teacher I’ve known, picked out every tiny detail we did wrong and made a fuss about it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ameliorate, verb | Make something bad better | S: improve, help A: worsen | The teacher decided to ameliorate the test since the pass rate last year was really low. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Evince, verb | To reveal a feeling or quality of someone or something | S: reveal, show A: conceal | The tone of his voice clearly evinced how he felt about the new building. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Countenance, verb and noun | Noun: a person’s face Verb: to tolerate something | Verb: S: tolerate, allow A: criticize | Her countenance was easily won without force. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repose, noun and verb | Noun: rest, sleep Verb: to put something somewhere | Verb: S: lie, rest, situated A: strain, hard-working | She was reposed on the bed after a long day. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Poignant, adjective | A sense of sadness or regret | S: touching, pitiful A: unaffecting | The movie was so poignant that he even cried as he watched. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inexorable, adjective | Impossible to stop | S: unstoppable, unavoidable, inevitable A: preventale | It is inexorable to see her this way since she’d been hiding it for too long. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capitulate, verb | To admit defeat | S: yield, surrender A: resist | The kingdom had already capitulated to us, since they were damaged badly now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Endeavor, verb & noun | Verb: to try to look for something Noun: an attempt to achieve something | Verb S: try, attempt Verb A: neglect Noun S: effort, attempt Noun A: inactivity | Their endeavor pleased and touched the king’s heart, so their will was granted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capacious, adjective | Having a lot of space/room | S: roomy, spacious A: cramped, enclosed | The new location is clean and capacious, we could fit more than 15 tables in there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Acquit, verb | To act or behave well | S: perform, behave A: fail, halt | She acquitted well in her test, she even got a reward from her parents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dauntless, adjective | Showing fearlessness, not hesitant and determined | S: fearless, determined A: weakheared | Joan of Arc was a dauntless individual at the battle, praised by all for her fearlessness. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inure, verb | Used to something unpleasant | S: harden, adapt A: sensitize | The children were abused so much that they were inured to violence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derive, verb | To get something/obtain something from somewhere | S: obtain, gain A: Forfeit, reject | Her home was where they derived comfort and security from. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conjecture, verb | To form an opinion on incomplete information | S: imagine, speculate A: fact | Lots conjectured that the lunch for the day was terrible | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peruse, verb | To read something closely | S: examine, read A: neglect | She perused the passage thoughtfully and wrote down her answer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foreboding, noun | A bad feeling, that something bad will happen | S: apprehensive, anxiety A: calm | He had the foreboding sense that something might have happened to her. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ardent, adjective | Enthusiastic or passionate | S: passionate, eager A: half hearted | She was an adent fan of his. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vehemence, noun | The display of strong feeling, passion | S: urgency, intensity A: mildness | It was shown in his vehemence, that he was very interested in her. |
Word, part of speech | Definition | Synonym & Antonym | Sentence |
Undulate, verb | Moves smoothly up and down, rise and fall, not like the word vacillate | S: surge, wave A: calm | The sea undulated harshly that night. |
Indelible, adjective | Unable to be removed or forgotten | S: unfading, ineradicable A: erasable | She made an indelible impression on me, by the way she acted |
Penury, noun | Extremely in poverty | S: pennilessness, deprivation A: affluence | Their family lived in penury their whole lives, when he came to the capital, he was shocked at the wealth. |
Venerable, adjective | A great deal of respect and wisdom, coming from age | S: distinguished, venerated A: disreputable | He had been through a lot, a venerable and studious professor |
Exculpate, verb | To declare that someone is not guilty | S: acquit, vindicate A: incriminate | She exculpated the man from court, for he is innocent |
Obdurate, adjective | Not wanting to change one’s opinion | S: unyielding, stubborn A: amenable | He is an obdurate individual, refusing to agree with what is clearly right |
Convalescence, noun | In a state of rest after an illness | S: rehabilitation, recovery A: relapse | After the surgery, she went through a period of convalescence |
Odious, adjective | Extremely unpleasant | S: repulsive, revolting A: delightful | After creating the art, he felt odious from his creation |
Abhor, verb | Regarded with disgust and hatred | S: loath, detest A: admire | Frankenstein abhorred his creation in utter disgust |
Facile, adjective | Easy to achieve, effortless | S: undemanding, effortless A: hard-won | To the king, the war with that country was a facile victory for his country |
Vacillate, verb | Wavering between different opinions, movement between ideas | S: dither, waver A: resolute | She vacillated when he asked if she wanted to start this course again. |
Verdant, adjective | Greens, grass, rich vegetation | S: lush, leafy A: barren | The farm was doing well, such a verdant field of greenery. |
Incipient, adjective | An initial stage, something developing | S: developing, initial A: full-blown | Their incipient feeling of gratefulness for him was filled to the brim when he did that |
Erroneously, adverb | In a mistaken way, incorrectly | S: mistakenly, inaccurately A: accurately | Her gift was erroneously opened by her little brother. |
Dogma, noun | A principle set by an authority that as true without questions | S: doctrine, ideology A: doubt | The government declined all religious dogma |
Repugnance, noun | Intense disgust | S: loathing, disgust A: delight | Frankenstein made no attempt to hide his repugnance when he saw the creature |
Precipice, noun | A very steep rock/cliff | S: bluff, steep A: lowland | He stood in shock after seeing her being pushed of from the precipice |
Progeny, noun | A decadence | S: offspring, posterity A: ancestor | Eric is a progeny of the creature |
Caprice, noun | A sudden change of mood | S: impulse, whim A: stability | She had a caprice after seeing how he moved quickly to another girl after leaving her |
Pernicious, adjective | Having a harmful effect in a subtle/gradual way | S: harmful, damaging A: beneficial | Climate change is pernicious |
Word, part of speech | Definition | |
Fitfully, adverb | Not regularly or continuously. | |
Sanguine, noun | Blood red color | |
Adherent, noun | Someone who supports a party/person/idea | |
Specious, adjective | Seemingly true, but actually false | |
Archaic, adjective | Very old or old fashioned | |
Urbane, adjective | Refined in manner | |
Gesticulate, verb | Using dramatic gestures instead of speaking | |
Sordid, adjective |
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Aureole, noun | A circle of light around something, like a halo | |
Tableaux, noun | Mutable, adjective | Liable to change |
Myriad, noun and adjective | Noun:
Adjective: countless and great in number | |
Zealot, noun | A person who is uncompromising in their beliefs | |
Vapid, adjective | Offering nothing that is stimulating | |
Invariably, adverb | In every case or occasion | |
Pugnacious, adjective | Eager to fight, argue or quarrel | |
Thwart, verb | To prevent someone from achieving something | |
Drivel, noun | nonsense | |
Compendium, noun | A short but detailed info of a subject | |
Harangue, noun or verb | Noun: a long and aggressive speech Verb: lecturing someone aggressively for a long time |
Word, part of speech | Definition | Synonym & Antonym | Sentence |
Dissemble, verb | To conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs. | S: dissimulate, masquerade A: admit, unveil | The best way to dissemble her thoughts from them is to keep herself from speaking. |
Supersede, verb | To take the place of someone who used to be in charge or to replace something that used to be used | S: override, replace A: keep, retain | Eric superseded Luke with Tristan, since he is going away on Dec 6th. |
Repudiate, verb | Refuse to associate with | S: reject, renounce A: embrace, adopt | Deven publicly repudiated herself from ever knowing Eric. |
Apoplectic, adjective | To overcome with anger, to get really angry | S: furious, enraged A: amenable, delighted | Luke was apoplectic at the sight of Eric playing footsies with someone else. |
Burly, adjective | Large built | S: sturdy, brawny A: puny, small | To Deven, Eric had a burly build. |
Hapless, adjective | Very unfortunate(usually describing a person) | S: unfortunate, unlucky A: lucky, fortunate | Luke and Eric have the most hapless luck when it comes to girls, so they resorted to staying with each other instead. |
Homely, adjective | British definition: cozy and comfortable in a house | S: comfy, hospitable A: uncomfortable, formal | Deven’s home was very homely when we visited on her birthday. |
Jocund, adjective | Cheerful and lighthearted | S: joyous, bright A: sad, heavy | Jordina is one of the most jocund girls I’ve ever met. |
Proclivity, noun | A tendency to do something regularly | S: liking, fondness A: loathing, disinclination | Tiffany cannot control her proclivity to start screaming as soon as she sees a duck. |
Supercilious, adjective | Behaving as if they are more superior than others, prideful and arrogant | S: haughty, pretentious A: humble, modest | There are none as supercilious than her, walking around with her head higher than anyone else. |
Sycophant, noun | A person who excessively praise another to gain advantage | S: flatterer, toady A: individualist, free-thinker | She was loved by the king, and hated by all the sycophants around her. |
Vacuous, adjective | Showing a lack of intelligence | S: mindless, vacant A: expressive, meaningful | Her smile was vacuous, as if she hadn't seen light in years. |
Anachronistic, adjective | A out of place/time object or act | S: antiquated, obsolete A: modern | Eric is very anachronistic, as he is about to turn 17 in the midst of a bunch of 15 year olds. |
Edify, verb | To instruct or improve morally or intellectually | S: educate, enlighten A: mislead, confuse | Luke had edified Eric about how to be a gentleman. |
Eschew, verb | To deliberately avoid using something | S: abstain, relinquish A: indulge, accept | Deven eschewed Eric after learning that he liked the Eagles. |
Galvanize, verb | Shock or excite something or someone into taking action in something | S: startle, jolt A: demotivate, bore | He was galvanized by the news of a fight. |
Paucity, noun | Something in small quantities | S: scarcity, shortage A: abundance, full | The paucity of food shortage caused many to suffer. |
Colloquially, adverb | A locally known language that is informal | S: dialectal, common A: formal, literary | He spoke colloquially in a formal occasion, and she wasn't from around there, so she didn’t understand at all. |
Visceral, adjective | A gut feeling | S: instinctive, innate A: reasoned, mechanical | Luke had a visceral feeling that Eric wants to play footsies with Deven instead of him. |
Occult, noun | A supernatural or mythical beliefs and practices. | S: witchery, sorcery A: obvious, unblurred | She always looked like someone whose studies are occult. |