Download - Vocabulary Unit 4 Level D
Vocabulary Unit 4
Level D
Abscond (v)• The thieves who
absconded with several of the museum’s most valuable paintings have never been found.
• To run off and hide• Synonyms: bolt,
make off, skip town
Access (n)• You need a password
in order to access your email accounts.
• Admittance to places, persons, things; to obtain
• Synonyms: entry, admittance, entrée
• Antonyms: total exclusion
Anarchy (n)• In the final days of a
war, civilians may find themselves living in anarchy.
• A lack of government and law; confusion
• Synonyms: chaos, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium
• Antonyms: law and order, peace and quiet
Arduous (adj)• No matter how carefully
you plan for it, moving to a new home is an arduous chore.
• Hard to do, requiring much effort; difficult, laborious
• Synonyms: hard, difficult, laborious, fatiguing
• Antonyms: easy, simple, effortless
Auspicious (adj)• My parents describe
the day that they first met as a most auspicious occasion.
• Favorable, fortunate• Synonyms: promising,
encouraging, propitious
• Antonyms: ill-omened, ominous, sinister
Daunt (v)• Despite all its inherent
dangers, space flight did not daunt the Mercury program astronauts.
• To overcome with fear, intimidate
• Synonyms: dismay, cow• Antonyms: encourage,
embolden, reassure
Disentangle (v)• Rescuers worked for
hours to disentangle a whale from the fishing net wrapped around its jaws.
• To free from tangles or complications
• Synonyms: unravel, unwind, unscramble, unsnarl
• Antonyms: tangle up, ensnarl, snag
Fated (adj)• The tragic outcome of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is fated from the play’s very first scene.
• Determined in advance by destiny or fortune
• Synonyms: destined, preordained, doomed
• Antonyms: accidental, fortuitous, chance, random
Hoodwink (v)• Many sweepstakes
offers hoodwink people into thinking they have already won big prizes.
• To mislead by a trick, deceive
• Synonyms: dupe, put one over one
• Antonyms: undeceive, disabuse, clue in
Inanimate (v)• Although fossils are
inanimate, they hold many clues to life on Earth millions of years ago.
• Not having life; without energy or spirit
• Synonyms: lifeless, dead, inert, spiritless
• Antonyms: living, alive, energetic, lively, sprightly
Incinerate (v)• Because of
environmental concerns, many cities and towns no longer incinerate their garbage.
• To burn to ashes; cremate
• Synonyms: burn up, cremate, reduce to ashes
Intrepid (adj)• Intrepid Polynesian
sailors in outrigger canoes were the first humans to reach the Hawaiian Islands.
• Very brave, fearless • Synonyms: valiant,
courageous, audacious, daring
• Antonyms: timid, cowardly, craven, pusillanimous
Larceny (n)
• Someone who steals property that is worth thousands of dollars commits grand larceny.
• Theft, robbery• Synonyms: stealing,
robbery, burglary
Pliant (adj)• The pliant branches of the
sapling sagged but did not break under the weight of the heavy snow.
• Bending easily; easily influenced
• Synonyms: supple, flexible, elastic, plastic
• Antonyms: rigid, stiff, inflexible, set in stone
Pompous (adj)• Political cartoonists like
nothing more than to mock pompous public officials.
• Overly self-important in speech and manner; pretentious
• Synonyms: pretentious, highfalutin, bombastic
• Antonyms: unpretentious, unaffected, plain
Precipice (n)• During the Cuban missile
crisis, the world hovered on the precipice of nuclear war.
• A very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster
• Synonyms: cliff, crag, bluff, promontory, ledge
• Antonyms: abyss, chasm, gorge
Prototype (n)• A functional prototype
of the device was demonstrated at the conclusion of the project.
• The first form of something new, made before it is produced in large quantities more…; the first or most typical example of something
• Synonyms: example, sample
• Antonyms: copy
Rectify (v)• The senators debated
a series of measures designed to rectify the nation’s trade imbalance.
• To make right, correct, remedy
• Synonyms: remedy, set right
• Antonyms: mess up, botch, bungle
Reprieve (n, v)• A vacation is a kind of
reprieve from the cares and responsibilities of everyday life.
• A temporary relief or delay; to grant a postponement
• Synonyms: stay, respite (n), postpone, delay (v)
• Antonym: proceed (v)
Revile (v)• The enraged King Lear
reviles the daughters who have cast him out into a fierce storm.
• To attack with words, call bad names
• Synonyms: inveigh against, malign, vilify, denounce
• Antonyms: praise, acclaim, revere, idolize