Unit 2 Vocabulary

Front 1

accost

Back 1

(v.) to approach and speak to first, to confront in aggressive way

Syn: buttonhole, approach, confront
Ant: evade, avoid, shun

Front 2

animadversion

Back 2

(n.) a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Syn: rebuke, reproof
Ant: Praise, compliment

Front 3

avid

Back 3

(adj.) desirous of something to the point of greed, intensely eager

Syn: keen, enthusiastic, grasping
Ant: reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Front 4

brackish

Back 4

(adj.) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Syn: briny, saline
Ant: fresh, clear, sweet

Front 5

celerity

Back 5

(n.) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Syn: promtpness, alacrity, speed
Ant: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

Front 6

devious

Back 6

(adj.) straying or wandering from a straight or direct course, done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

Syn: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful
Ant: direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard

Front 7

gambit

Back 7

(n.) in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Syn: ploy, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

Front 8

halcyon

Back 8

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher, (adj.) of or relation to the halcyon, calm, peaceful, happy, golden, prosperous, affluent

Syn: tranquil, serence, placid, palmy
Ant: turbulent, chaotic, tumultuous

Front 9

histrionic

Back 9

(adj.) pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial, melodramtic

Syn: affected, stagy
Ant: low-keyed, muted, untheatrical, subdued

Front 10

incendiary

Back 10

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires: designed to start fire; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist, one who causes strife

Syn: inflammatory, provacative, firebrand
Ant: soothing, calming, peacemaker

Front 11

maelstrom

Back 11

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirpool in violence and destruction.

Syn: vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult

Front 12

myopic

Back 12

(adj.) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation, lacking foresight or discernment

Syn: shortsighted
Ant: farsighted

Front 13

overt

Back 13

(adj.) open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

Syn: clear, obvious, manifest, patent
Ant: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed

Front 14

pejorative

Back 14

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling
Ant: complimentary, ameliorative

Front 15

propriety

Back 15

(n.) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Syn: fitness, correctness, decorum
Ant: unseemliness, inappropriateness

Front 16

sacrilege

Back 16

(n.) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

Syn: desecration, profanation, defilement

Front 17

summarily

Back 17

(adv.) without delay or formality; breifly, concisely

Front 18

suppliant

Back 18

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly; (n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Syn: petitioner, suitor

Front 19

talisman

Back 19

(n.) an object that serve as a charm or is believed to confer magical power, an amulet, fetish

Syn: amulet, fetish

Front 20

undulate

Back 20

(v.) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form