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116 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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DIATRIBE
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(n) bitter, accusing criticism, tirade, sharp verbal attack, harangue
anti: praise, encomium Infuriated by what he considered unfair attacks in the press, the movie star delivered a lengthy diatribe against biased reporting. |
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SANCTION
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(v) officially authorize, approve, allow, encourage, permit, agree to
anti: proscribe, disapprove, prohibit, forbid Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless man. |
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SALUBRIOUS
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(adj) conducive to good health, beneficial
anti: noxious, unhealthy, unwholesome Many people with hay fever move to more salubrious sections of the country during the months of August and September. |
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REFRACTORY
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(adj) intractable, unruly, fractious, recalcitrant, obstinately stubborn, resistant to treatment
anti: tractable, manageable, compliant, yielding, obedient, docile, submissive Though his jockey whipped him, the refractory horse refused to enter the starting gate. |
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RECANT
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(v) disclaim, disavow, retract a previous statement, repudiate, openly confess error
anti: affirm, avow, assert Hoping to make Joan of Arc recant her sworn testimony, her English captors tried to convince her that her visions had been sent to her by the devil. |
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RAREFIED
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(adj) made less dense [gas], elevated in nature, lofty, refined, select, esoteric
anti: dense, compact, unrefined, modest The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the rarefied atmosphere. |
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QUIESCENT
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(adj) at rest, still, dormant, temporarily inactive, quiet, motionless
anti: active, activated After the devastating eruption, fear of Mount Etna was great: people did not return to cultivate its rich hillside lands until the volcano had been quiescent for two years. |
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PUNGENT
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(adj) acrid-tasting, strong-smelling, stinging, caustic, bitter, mordant, penetrating, mentally keen, sharp
anti: mild, bland, soothing, dull The pungent odor of ripe Limburger cheese appealed to Simone, but made Stanley gag. |
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PROPENSITY
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(n) innate inclination, bent, natural tendency, proclivity, penchant (strong liking for someone or something or tendency to do something) predisposition
anti: disinclination, aversion, antipathy Convinced of his own talent, Sol has an unfortunate propensity to belittle the talents of others. |
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PROHIBITIVE
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(adj) tending to prevent or discourage something's purchase or use, inclined to prevent or forbid
anti: affordable Susie wanted to by a new Volvo but had to settle for a used Ford because the new car's price was prohibitive. |
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PREVARICATE
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(v) lie, speak misleadingly, intentionally misstate, equivocate, fib (childish lie)
anti: speak the truth The candidate sought to convince the voters that he was a straight shooter, someone who would never prevaricate or equivocate, but would always be honest and forthright. |
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PRECIPITATE
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(adj) hasty, rash, sudden, abrupt, headlong, impetuous, rapid
anti: deliberate, cautious, careful, gradual, protracted Though I was angry enough to resign on the spot, I had enough sense to keep myself from quitting a job in such a precipitate fashion. |
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PRECARIOUS
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(adj) dangerous, risky, perilous, uncertain, insecure, unreliable
anti: safe, secure, risk-free, certain, reliable, solidly grounded Saying the stock was currently overpriced and would be a precarious investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it. |
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POROUS
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(adj) full of pores, sievelike, permeable, allowing passage of air or liquids
anti: impermeable, impenetrable So many refugees crossed into the country along its unfenced and largely unpatrolled border that one critic claimed the border was porous as a sieve. |
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PLETHORA
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(n) superabundance, excess, glut, surfeit
anti: scarcity, dearth, shortage Highly apologetic about her lack of proficiency, she offered a plethora of excuses for her shortcomings. |
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PLASTICITY
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(n) physical malleability, ability to be sharped without breaking, capability of being molded
anti: unmalleability In their resillience in the face of adversity, many children have shown a toughness and plasticity that make the determined efforts of some parents to spare their children the slightest pain seem ironic. |
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PHLEGMATIC
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(adj) not easily disturbed or excited, calm, composed, unruffled, sluggish
anti: emotional, excitable, vivacious The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies. |
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PERFUNCTORY
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(adj) superficial, cursory, not thorough, indifferent, negligent
anti: thorough, diligent, careful The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors. |
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PENURY
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(n) extreme poverty, destitution, indigence, pennilessness, impecuniousness
anti: wealth, prosperity, affluence When his pension fund failed, George feared that he would end his days in abject penury. |
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PECCADILLO
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(n) minor sin, slight offense, trifling fault, slip
anti: transgression, sin, serious offense, great misdeed Whenever Huck swiped a cookie from the jar, Miss Watson reacted as if he were guilty of armed robbery, not some mere peccadillo. |
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PATHOLOGICAL
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(adj) relating to the study of disease, caused by disease, manifesting compulsive behavior, abnormal
anti: healthy, normal Self-regard taken to an unhealthy extreme can become pathological; in such cases the condition is diagnosable as the personality disorder narcissism. |
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PARSIMONY
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(n) excessive frugality, stinginess, meanness
anti: prodigality, extravagance, monetary wastefulness Although Elizabeth I promised to reward her loyal troops richly, her parsimony outweighed her generosity, and her soldiers failed to y receive their promised reward. |
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IMPLACABLE
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(adj) unable to be appeased, inexorable (cannot be persuaded, moved, stopped, convinced), unbending, merciless, relentless
anti: willing to compromise, yielding In A Tale of Two Cities, Madame Defarge, the implacable enemy of the aristocratic Evremondes, is relentless in her efforts to send every last one of them to the guillotine. |
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IMPASSIVE
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(adj) without feeling, imperturbable, stoical, phlegmatic, expressionless
anti: overwrought, susceptible to pain, ebullient [agitated] Refusing to let the enemy see how deeply shaken he was by his capture, the prisoner kept his face impassive. |
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HETERODOX
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(adj) unorthodox, unconventional, dissident, disagreeing with accepted beliefs
anti: orthodox, canonical, conventional To those who upheld the belief that the earth did not move, Galileo's theory that the earth circled the sun was disturbingly heterodox. |
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FLAG
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(v) lose vigor, fade, wane (decrease in size), droop, grow feeble
anti: rally, revive, wax, perk up The lecture was so boring that our attention began to flag. |
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FAWNING
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(adj) obsequious, servile, sycophantic, bootlicking, toadying
anti: assertive, domineering, imperious In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins is the archetypal fawning clergyman, wholly dependent for his living on the goodwill of his patron, Lady Catherine, whom he flatters shamelessly. |
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FACETIOUS
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(adj) humorous, joking (often inappropriately), not seriously intended, flippant
anti: serious, earnest, lugubrious, somber Tolstoy criticized George Bernard Shaw for his facetious tone in his play Arms and the Man, saying that one should not speak jestingly about such a serious subject. |
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EXTRAPOLATION
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(n) inference based on known facts, conjecture, estimate, projection
anti: interpolation Based on their extrapolation from the results of the primaries on Super Tuesday, the networks predicted that John McCain would be the Republican candidate for the presidency. |
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CONJECTURE
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(n) opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information
conjectures about the newcomer |
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DISSEMBLE
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(v) feign, hide behind a false appearance, conceal one's motives, dissimulate
anti: behave honestly, be sincere Bond realized that the only way he could fool his captors was to dissemble, to pretend he was still unconscious. |
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DISINTERESTED
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(adj) unbiased, impartial, neutral, dispassionate
anti: biased, prejudiced, passionate Given the judge's political ambitions and the lawyer's financial stake in the case, the only disinterested person in the courtroom may have been the court reporter. |
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DISCRETE
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(adj) separate, unconnected, consisting of distinct parts, isolated
anti: attached, connected, continuous Because human populations have been migrating and intermingling for hundreds of centuries, it is hard to classify humans into discrete racial groups. |
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DISABUSE
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(v) correct a false impression, free someone from an erroneous belief, undeceive
anti: mislead, deceive, hoodwink, dupe On her return from Turkey, Lady Montagu did her best to disabuse English minds of their prejudiced notions of Turkish cruelty, luxury, and sensuality. |
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DIRGE
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(n) lament (usually musical), funeral song or tune
anti: paean Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps, published in 1865, included a moving dirge commemorating the death of Abraham Lincoln. |
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DIFFUSE
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(adj) wordy, verbose, widely spread out [like gas], scattered
anti: terse, brief, concentrated If you pay authors by the word, you tempt them to produce rambling, diffuse manuscripts rather than concise ones. |
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DIFFIDENCE
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(n) timidity, shyness, self-doubt, lack of self-confidence
anti: self-confidence, brashness, self-assertiveness Doubting her ability to write English correctly, the young Japanese student felt some diffidence about replying to the first letter she received from her American pen pal. |
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DICHOTOMY
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(n) division, split, branching into two parts (esp contradictory ones), duality
anti: union, marriage, merger According to Jung, the distinction b/w mind and body is an artificial dichotomy. |
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DESULTORY
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(adj) aimless, haphazard, unfocused, disappointing in performance
anti: methodical, deliberate, assiduous In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory. |
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DENIGRATE
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(v) blacken, belittle, defame, disparage
anti: praise, acclaim, extol The campaign took on a vicious tone as the rival candidates began to denigrate each other's accomplishments and character. |
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DIFFUSE
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(adj) wordy, verbose, widely spread out [like gas], scattered
anti: terse, brief, concentrated If you pay authors by the word, you tempt them to produce rambling, diffuse manuscripts rather than concise ones. |
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DIFFIDENCE
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(n) timidity, shyness, self-doubt, lack of self-confidence
anti: self-confidence, brashness, self-assertiveness Doubting her ability to write English correctly, the young Japanese student felt some diffidence about replying to the first letter she received from her American pen pal. |
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DICHOTOMY
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(n) division, split, branching into two parts (esp contradictory ones), duality
anti: union, marriage, merger According to Jung, the distinction b/w mind and body is an artificial dichotomy. |
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DESULTORY
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(adj) aimless, haphazard, unfocused, disappointing in performance
anti: methodical, deliberate, assiduous In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory. |
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DENIGRATE
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(v) blacken, belittle, defame, disparage
anti: praise, acclaim, extol The campaign took on a vicious tone as the rival candidates began to denigrate each other's accomplishments and character. |
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DAUNT
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(v) intimidate, frighten, dishearten
anti: embolden, hearten, encourage Although we thought the amount of work left to do might daunt her, she refused to become discouraged and settled down to the job. |
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SUCCUMB
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(v) fail to resist pressure, temptation, negative force
He has become the latest to succumb to the strain. |
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CONTRITE
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(adj) penitent, remorseful, repentant, deeply sorry
anti: unrepentant, unremorseful Miss Post recommends that, in writing a note of apology, one should sound properly contrite. |
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CONTENTION
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(n) claim or thesis, disagreement, debate, strife, conflict
anti: agreement It is our contention that, if you follow our tactics, you will boost your score on the GRE. |
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PHILISTINE
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(n) person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts or who has no understanding of them
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CONFOUND
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(v) confuse, mix up, puzzle, baffle, thwart, refute [an argument
anti: distinguish, discriminate, enlighten, clarify No mystery, no matter how puzzling, could confound Sherlock Holmes. |
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COMPLIANT
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(adj) submissive, yielding, willing to obey, acquiescent (accept, comply, submit tacitly or passively)
anti: obdurate, recalcitrant, resistant, defiant (Adj) conforming to requirements, meeting official obligations anti: noncompliant |
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COMPLAISANT
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(adj) obliging, eager to please, overly polite
anti: disobliging, unaccomodating Fearing that the king might become enraged if his will were thwarted, the complaisant Parliament recognized Henry VIII as king of Ireland. |
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COMMENSURATE
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(adj) corresponding in extent, degree, amount; proportionate, adequate
anti: disproportionate, inappropriate By the close of WW2 much progress had been made in assigning nurses rank and responsibilities commensurate with their training and abilities. |
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COGENT
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(adj) convincing, well-argued, powerfully persuasive
anti: unpersuasive, poorly reasoned, unsound Clear and persuasive, Stevenson was a writer of originality and power, whose essays at their best are cogent and perceptive renderings of aspects of the human condition. |
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COAGULATE
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(v) thicken, congeal, clot
anti: liquefy, dissolve Even after you remove the pudding from the burner, it will continue to coagulate as it stands. |
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CHICANERY
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(n) trickery to deceive someone, deception, fraud, evasion
anti: aboveboard behavior, honesty Lincoln was called "Honest Abe" in recognition of his integrity. Nixon was called "Tricky Dick" in recognition of his chicanery. |
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CASTIGATION
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(n) verbal punishment, scolding, severe criticism, public censure
anti: public praise, strong approval, kudos Sensitive even to mild criticism, Woolf could not bear the castigation that she found in certain hostile reviews. |
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BURNISH
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(v) make shiny by rubbing, polish
anti: make dull The maid burnished the brass fixtures until they gleamed in the lamplight. |
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BURGEON
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(v) develop rapidly, flourish, send out new buds
anti: dwindle (decrease gradually), wither (dry and shriveled) |
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BROOK
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(v) allow, tolerate, put up with
anti: refuse to permit The dean would brook no interference with his disciplinary actions. |
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BOOR
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(adj) someone who acts in a rude or insensitive way, lout (submit, yield, bow in respect), oaf
anti: courteous person Though Mr. Collins constantly interrupted his wife, she ignored his acting like a boor, for she had lost hope of teaching him courtesy. |
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BLITHE
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(adj) carefree, happy, lighthearted
anti: uptight, anxious and irritable, edgy Without a care in the world, Beth went her blithe lighthearted way. |
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BANE
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(n) cause of ruin or misery, blight, curse
anti: blessing, piece of good fortune |
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FORTUITOUS
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(adj) happening by chance rather than planning
the similarity between the paintings might be fortuitous |
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BALEFUL
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(adj) deadly, having a malign influence, ominous, threatening harm or misfortune, menaching
anti: benign The fortune-teller made baleful predictions of terrible things to come. |
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AVER
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(v) assert confidently, affirm, delcare, avow, profess, state formally
anti: deny, contradict, belie (fail to give true notion) The self-proclaimed psychic avered that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he had no need of seismographs in order to foretell earthquakes. |
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ASTRINGENT
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(adj) harshly biting, sharp and penetrating, bitter in taste, caustic, causing contraction
anti: gentle, mild in taste The astringent quality in the unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult. |
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ASSUAGE
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(v) alleviate, mitigate, ease or lessen [pain], satisfy or appease [hunger], soothe or calm [anger]
anti: intensify, exacerbate, harrow, inflict distress on Jilted by Jane, Dick tried to assuage his heartache by indulging in ice cream. |
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ASPERSION
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(n) slanderous remark, abusive attack, disparaging comment, slur, calumny
anti: commendation, flattery, praise, complimentary remark Rather than attacking President Cleveland's arguments with logic, his opponent resorted to casting aspersions on the president's moral character. |
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ASPERITY
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(n) sharpness of temper, harshness of manner, severity, acrimony, acerbity, roughness of surface
anti: mildness, cheerfulness, affability Exasperated by the boys' unruly behavior, she addressed them with considerable asperity. |
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PROFLIGATE
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(adj) wasteful in the use of resources
profligate consumers of energy (adj) licentious, dissolute, lacks morals |
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APPROBATION
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(n) approval, good opinion, commendation, praise
anti: disapprobation, disapproval, condemnation, castigation Wanting her parents' regard, she looked for some sign of their approbation. |
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ALACRITY
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(n) promptness, cheerful willingness, eagerness, briskness
anti: reluctance, listlessness, unwillingness, apathy Eager to set off on their ski trip, the boys packed up their gear and climbed into the van with alacrity. |
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ABEYANCE
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(n) temporary inactivity, suspended action
anti: ongoing action, continuance During the military takeover, the constitution was not abolished but some of its clauses temporarily were put in abeyance as the armed forces took over the administration. |
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ABATE
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(v) subside, moderate, lessen in intensity, put an end to
anti: intensify, increase, augment Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate. |
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MERCURIAL
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(adj) capricious, unpredictable, inconstant, fickle, volatile, lively
anti: constant, steady, unvarying, phlegmatic Quick as quicksilver to change his moods, he was a mercurial creature, impossible to rely on. |
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MOROSE
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(adj) melancholy, dejected, gloomy, sullen
anti: cheerful, merry, jovial, happy Forced to take early retirement, Juan acted morosely for months. |
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LUMINOUS
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(adj) shining, issuing light, glowing, gleaming
anti: dull, lackluster In the pitch-dark bedroom, all we could see was the luminous dial of the alarm clock. |
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LUMBER
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(v) move heavily, shamble, plod
anti: glide, move smoothly, waft, float Bulky and massive, the overloaded garbage truck lumbered down the narrow street. |
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PLOD
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(v) walk slowly, with very heavy steps
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SHAMBLE
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(v) move with a slow, shuffling, awkward gait
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GAIT
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(n) person's manner of walking
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VITUPERATIVE
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(adj) abusive, scathing, venomous, scolding, denunciatory, censorious, defamatory, vilifying, insulting
anti: laudatory, complimentary, admiring The quarrelsome fishmonger of London's Billingsgate Market were so notorious for their coarse, vituperative speech that such speech eventually became referred to as "billingsgate." |
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COARSE
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(adj) rough or loose in texture or grain
(adj) made of large grains or particles (adj) not elegantly formed or proportioned (adj) [food] of inferior quality (adj) [person] rude, crude, or vulgar |
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TIRADE
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(n) bitter outburst , vehement denunciation, extended scolding, harangue, diatribe
anti: dispassionate speech, encomium, eulogy, expression of praise The cigar smoker went into a bitter tirade, denouncing the antismoking forces that had succeeded in banning smoking from most planes and restaurants. |
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TANGENTIAL
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(adj) peripheral, digressive, divergent, only superficially pertinent, off on a tangent
anti: central Despite Clark's attempts to distract her with tangential remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: Why couldn't Clark come out to dinner with Superman and her? |
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SUPPOSITION
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(n) assumption, surmise, hypothesis, presupposition
anti: certainty, firm belief, strong conviction, physical observation Based on the supposition that Adam in the Garden of Eden had nothing but water to drink, water is sometimes referred to as Adam's ale. |
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STOLID
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(adj) impassive, unemotional, not easily excited, indifferent, phlegmatic, dull
anti: animated, excitable, emotional Marianne wanted a romantic, passionate suitor like Willoughby, not a stolid, unexciting one like Cl. Brandon. |
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STIPULATE
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(v) make express conditions, specify, arrange specifically, require, expressly demand, insist on
anti: fail to specify, request Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases. |
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STIGMA
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(n) mark of disgrace, strain, blot, blemish, badge of infamy, taint
anti: token of esteem, mark of high regard He was reluctant to let new acquaintances know about his bipolar disorder, because he felt there was an unfortunate stigma attached to mental illness. |
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BLOT
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(n) dark mark or stain made by ink, paint, or dirt
(n) shameful act or quality that tarnishes an otherwise good character (v) dry using an absorbent material (v) mark, stain, tarnish (v) cover writing or pictures with ink or paint so they cannot be seen (v) obliterate something painful in one's memory or existence |
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BLEMISH
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(n) small mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something
(n) moral defect or fault |
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HARANGUE
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(n) intense verbal attack, passionate, vehement speech, diatribe, tirade
anti: encomium, eulogy, expression of praise In a lengthy harangue, the principal berated the students who had trashed the school cafeteria. |
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ENCOMIUM
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(n) eulogy, high praise, formal tribute, panegyric
anti: diatribe, denunciation, defamation Uneasy with the encomium poured upon him by his enthusiastic readers, Tolkien felt unworthy of such high praise. |
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FRENETIC
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(adj) frenzied, frantic, hectic, wildly agitated, uncontrolled
anti: calm, serene, restrained As soon as they smelled smoke, the frenetic horses milled about in their stalls. |
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MILL
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(n) building with machinery for grinding into flour
(n) domestic device used for grinding a stolid substance into powder or pulp (n) engine (v) grind or crush (v) cut or shape with a rotating tool (v) make regular markings on the edge of a coin (v) move around in a confused mass (v) thicken wool or another animal fiber by fulling it |
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OBDURACY
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(n) stubbornness, obstinacy, inflexibility, intransigence
anti: compliance, submissiveness, acquiescence When the English clergy refused to accede to King John's demands, the king, infuriated by what he considered their obduracy, persecuted the church. |
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OBVIATE
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(v) prevent, preclude (make impossible, prevent from happening), make unnecessary
anti: fail to anticipate, be unable to prevent, permit A picture is worth a thousand words: illustrated news articles can afford to be brief, for the use of pictures obviates the need for lengthy descriptions. |
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OFFICIOUS
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(adj) meddlesome, interfering, excessively pushy in offering one's services
anti: diffident, unintrusive, self-effacing After her long flight, Leticia just wanted to nap, but the officious bellboy was intent on showing her all the special features of the deluxe suite. |
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ONEROUS
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(adj) burdensome, heavy, oppressive
anti: light, easy The math genius Carl Gauss found the sort of calculations involved in computing the orbits of the plants far less onerous than most people would to him, such numerical problems seemed easy. |
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PANEGYRIC
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(n) eulogistic oration, encomium, tribute, formal expression of praise
anti: denunciation, condemnation, censure In England during the Restoration, poets had the unenviable task of composing panegyrics to praise King Charles II's supposed virtues. |
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ENDEMIC
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(adj) naive, indigenous, prevalent in a particular region or among a particular group
anti: exotic, foreign, alien In some areas of Africa, malaria is endemic; 90 to 100% of children less than 5 years old have malaria parasites circulating in their blood all the time. |
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ENGENDER
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(v) cause, produce, stir up, prompt, create, breed
anti: suppress, eradicate, squelch To receive praise for real accomplishments engenders self-confidence in a child. |
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EQUANIMITY
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(n) composure, equilibrium, calmness of temperament, self-possession
anti: agitation, discomposure, excitability Even the inevitable strains of caring for an ailing mother did not disturb Bea's equanimity. |
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EQUIVOCATE
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(v) lie, prevaricate, speak misleadingly, hedge
anti: speak one's mind, tell the truth, speak unambiguously No matter how bad the news is, give it to us straight: above all, don't equivocate. |
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EULOGIZE
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(v) praise highly, extol, panegyrize, give or write a laudatory speech
anti: defame, disparage, criticize, condemn In her endorsement of Barack Obama, Caroline Kennedy eulogized the young senator, praising him for his ability to inspire people to work for the common good. |
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FLORID
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(adj) over ornate, flowery, grandiloquent, ruddy, reddish
anti: plain, unadorned, unembellished, pale He was an old-fashioned, orator, known for his overblown rhetoric and his florid prose. |
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INCONSEQUENTIAL
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(adj) insignificant, unimportant, trivial, illogical
anti: important, significant, critical Brushing off Ali's apologies for having broken the wine glass, Tamara said it was inconsequential. |
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INGENUOUS
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(adj) naive and trusting, artless, unsophisticated, innocent
anti: cunning, sophisticated, guileful, devious, artful The woodsman had not realized how ingenuous Little Red Riding Hood was until he heard that she had gone off for a walk in the woods with the Big Bad Wolf. |
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INNOCUOUSNESS
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(n) harmlessness, inoffensiveness, insipidity, innocence
anti: harmfulness, toxicity, noxiousness, injuriousness Dr. Spector was a firm believer in the innocuousness of an occasional glass of wine with dinner, such a minor indulgence she maintained, should have no ill effect on anyone. |
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INSULARITY
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(n) narrow-mindedness, provinciality, parochialism, isolation
anti: cosmopolitanism, urbanity, broad-mindedness The insularity of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion against anything foreign. |
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INTRACTABLE
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(adj) stubborn, unyielding, obstinate, unruly, pigheaded
anti: yielding, readily compliant, complaisant, amenable, docile Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen was intractable: he absolutely refused to take a bath. |
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INTRANSIGENCE
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(n) stubbornness, refusal of any compromise, obstinacy, obduracy, extreme firmness
anti: flexibility, readiness to compromise, willingness to yield The negotiating team had not expected such intransigence from the striking workers, who rejected any hint of a compromise. |
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IRRESOLUTE
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(adj) uncertain how to act, unsure, weak, indecisive, vacillating
anti: resolute, determined, decisive Once you have made your decision, don't waver; a leader should never appear irresolute. |
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LATENT
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(adj) potential but undeveloped, dormant, hidden
anti: patent, manifest, overt Polaroid pictures were popular in their time because people enjoyed the novelty of watching the latent photographic image gradually appear on what had seemed a blank sheet of paper. |
