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Created by:

ivipul on April 16, 2011

Subjects:

gre,barron,flashcards,wordlist,high frequency

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A complete list of Barron's High frequency GRE Wordlist, with meanings, sentences,Synonyms and Antonyms.

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Flashcards: GRE High Fequency Complete

Both Sides

ABATEVerbThe wind abated after the storm: decrease, diminish, reduce, lessen, subside, decline, fade, fade away, recede,dwindle, moderate, mitigate, weaken, wane, ebb, curtail, slack, slacken, go down, lower, fall off, fall away, taper off,lighten, soften,quiet, quell, slow, slow down, slake off, temper, cool, blunt; ease, relieve, alleviate, assuage, pacify,soothe, allay, mollify,palliate, dull; dampen, restrain, restrict.Antonyms

increase, intensify, magnify, enhance, heighten, aggravate, amplify, grow; multiply, rise, come up, strengthen,sharpen, heatup; quicken, accelerate, hurry, speed, speed up; prolong, extend.

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ABATE VerbThe wind abated after the storm: decrease, diminish, reduce, lessen,subside, decline, fade, fade away, recede, dwindle, moderate, mitigate,weaken, wane, ebb, curtail, slack, slacken, go down, lower, fall off, fallaway, taper off, lighten, soften,quiet, quell, slow, slow down, slake off,temper, cool, blunt; ease, relieve, alleviate, assuage, pacify, soothe, allay,mollify,palliate, dull; dampen, restrain, restrict.Antonymsincrease, intensify, magnify, enhance, heighten, aggravate, amplify, grow;multiply, rise, come up, strengthen, sharpen, heat

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up; quicken, accelerate, hurry, speed, speed up; prolong, extend.

ABERRANT

Adjective1 The planet's orbit was plainly aberrant: straying, stray, deviating, deviate,wandering, errant, erring, devious, erratic,rambling, diverging, divergent.2 Aberrant behavior led to his confinement: abnormal, irregular, unusual,

odd, eccentric, peculiar, exceptional, weird, queer,curious, singular,strange; unconforming, nonconforming, anomalous.Antonyms1 direct.2 normal.

abeyance

NounThe building project will be held in abeyance until spring: postponement,suspension, intermission, remission, deferral,adjournment, discontinuance, inaction, dormancy, latency; pause, delay,cessation, quiescence, recess, hiatus, waitingperiod, in a holding pattern; in cold storage, on ice, on a back burner.Antonyms

Continuance, continuation, continuity, ceaselessness.

abstemious

adjectiveHis abstemious habits allowed him few pleasures: abstinent, ascetic,austere, temperate, continent, nonindulgent, teetotal,self-denying, sparing, self-disciplined, abstentious.Antonymsself-indulgent, abandoned, undisciplined, uncontrolled, hedonistic,profligate, licentious, unrestrained, immoderate.

admonish

verb1 The captain admonished the guards to be on the alert: warn, caution, puton guard, tip off; advise, counsel, enjoin.2 The preacher admonished his congregation for failure to attend weeklyservices: reprove, censure, reprimand, rebuke,reproach, remonstrate, chide, chasten, scold, upbraid, criticize, take to task,call to account, rap on the knuckles.Antonyms2 praise, compliment, commend.

adulterateverbThe ancient Greeks often adulterated their wine with water: contaminate,thin, water, water down; depreciate, Informal cut.

esthetic

or aestheticadjectiveThe course in art history is designed to develop the student's estheticjudgment: appreciative of beauty, appealing to artistictaste, having artistic tastes, artistic; sensitive, discriminating, cultivated,refined, fastidious.Antonymsunesthetic, unappreciative; insensitive, undiscriminating.

aggregate nounThe final plan was an aggregate of all our ideas: composite, compound,

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union, combination, gathering, accumulation,collection, amassing, bringing together, summation, mixture, mix, blend,mass, conglomeration, conglomerate.

Alacrity

noun1 She answered his call for assist-ance with alacrity: willingness,

enthusiasm, eagerness, fervor, zeal, avidity; alertness,promptness, dispatch, readiness.2 Despite his 80 years, he moved with alacrity: liveliness, briskness,sprightliness; agility, nimbleness.Antonyms1 unwillingness, indifference, unconcern, apathy, impassiveness,reluctance, disinclination; languor, lethargy, dullness.2 slowness, sluggishness.

alleviate

verbThis medication will alleviate the soreness: relieve, ease, allay, assuage;lessen, reduce, abate, diminish, check, temper,

lighten, soften, mitigate, mollify; blunt, dull, moderate, slake, slacken,subdue, quit, quench.Antonymsmake worse, aggravate, increase, intensify, heighten, enhance, magnify,multiply.

amalgamate

verbSilver must be amalgamated with a harder material to make durablejewelry. The two shipping companies amalgamated intoone: combine, blend, merge, fuse, mix, commingle; unite, unify, jointogether, consolidate, coalesce, incorporate, federate,integrate, synthesize.Antonymsseparate, part, divide, disunite.

ambiguous

adjective"Indian" is an ambiguous word because it can refer to an American Indianor a native of India: equivocal, vague, unclear,cryptic, enigmatic, puzzling, indefinite, uncertain, doubtful; misleading,having a double meaning.Antonymsexplicit, definite, specific, direct, conclusive; clear, plain, frank,unmistakable, obvious, simple, lucid; unquestionable, honest.

ambivalent

adjectiveI have ambivalent thoughts on where to spend my vacation: contradictory,conflicting, opposing, clashing, warring;confused, undecided, unfocused, mixed, wavering, fluctuating, vacillating,Informal wishy-washy.Antonymsdefinite, positive; unwavering.

ameliorate verb1 The council met to consider ways of ameliorating the foreign situation:

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improve, better, help, heal, fix up, patch up, correct,rectify; amend, reform, revise, improve upon, make an improvement upon;advance, promote.2 Doctors say the patient's condition has ameliorated: improve, get better,grow better, perk up, pick up, progress, come

along, mend, show improvement.Antonyms1 ruin, botch, queer, screw up, wreck, destroy.2 deteriorate, go downhill, decline, weaken, worsen.

Anachronism

a?nach?ro?nism ( nak"r niz'*m), n.1. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigneda date or period other than the correct one.2. a thing or person that belongs to another, esp. an earlier, time.[1640?50; < L anachronismus < Gk anachronism?s a wrong time reference= anachron(?zein) to make a wrong timereference (see ANA-, CHRONO-, -IZE) + -ismos -ISM]

a?nach'ro?nis"tic, a?nach"ro?nous, adj.a?nach'ro?nis"ti?cal?ly, a?nach"ro?nous?ly, an?a?chron?i?cal?ly (an'*kron"ik le), adv.

analogous

adjectiveThe heart is analogous to a pump: similar, like, comparable, akin,equivalent, parallel, correlative, corresponding.Antonymsdissimilar, unlike; different, divergent

Anarchy

Noun1 Any form of government is better than anarchy: absence of government,disorder, lawlessness, chaos.2 Anarchists dream of an ideal state of anarchy in which people will becompletely free: utopia, the millennium.Antonyms1 order, discipline, authority; government, organization, control;regimentation, subjection.

Anomalous

Adjective1 An Eskimo in native dress would cut an anomalous figure in Rio: odd,strange, peculiar, incongruous, out of keeping,bizarre.2 Cats with six toes are anomalous but not uncommon: irregular, abnormal,atypical; monstrous.Antonyms1 common, usual, standard, typical, familiar, unexceptional, ordinary,natural, normal, regular, conventional, customary.2 normal, typical.

Antipathy NounI try to be broadminded but do feel antipathy toward people who are dirtyand unkempt: dislike, aversion, distaste; disgust,repulsion, loathing, repugnance, abhorrence; antagonism, animosity, ill

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will, enmity, rancor, hostility, unfriendliness.Antonymsaffinity, fellow feeling, regard, sympathy, attraction, partiality; love,affection, attachment.

Apathy

Noun

Public apathy can lead to bad government: indifference, unconcern, lack ofinterest, inattention, unresponsiveness,passiveness, lethargy, lassitude; lack of feeling, numbness,emotionlessness, coolness, impassibility, impassivity.AntonymsConcern, interest, attention, responsiveness, action; emotion, feeling,excitement, passion, zeal, vehemence, enthusiasm,fervor.

Appease

Verb1 Nothing would appease the crying baby: calm, make peaceful, pacify,quiet, soothe, solace, mollify, lull, compose, placate.

2 That sandwich appeased my appetite: satisfy, ease, allay, abate, assuage,alleviate, temper, mitigate, relieve; slake,quench, quell, blunt, still, quiet, dull.3 Chamberlain should never have tried to appease Hitler: conciliate,accommodate, propitiate.Antonyms1,2,3 aggravate, provoke, inflame, arouse.1 disturb, upset, bother, annoy, dissatisfy, perturb.3 anger, enrage, infuriate; antagonize, Informal cross

Apprise

VerbPolice should apprise an arrested person of his or her rights to remain silentand to be represented by a lawyer: inform,notify, advise, tell, make acquainted, make aware, make cognizant of,disclose, enlighten.AntonymsKeep secret, keep quiet about.

Approbation

NounThe architect received approbation for his new office building design:praise, congratulation, compliment, good word,applause, acclaim; approval, acceptance, support, endorsement, ratification,commendation, laudation, official sanction.AntonymsCensure, condemnation, criticism; disapproval, dissatisfaction, protest,rejection, veto.

Appropriate Adjective1 A long dress is appropriate for a formal wedding: suitable, proper, well-suited, congruous, fitting, befitting, correct, seemly,apt, apropos, well-chosen; characteristic, belonging, pertinent, relevant,germane, to the purpose, to the point, opportune.Verb

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2 The city will appropriate money for two new schools: allocate, set apart,allot, apportion, assign, earmark.3 The county should appropriate land for a new highway: take possessionof, take, confiscate, expropriate.Antonyms

1 inappropriate, improper, ill-suited, unsuitable, unsuited, unfitting,incongruous, unbefitting, unseemly, incorrect, wrong,inconsonant, incompatible, outr?; uncharacteristic, out of place,inopportune, irrelevant.2 withhold.3 give, bestow, donate; relinquish, cede, dispose of.

Arduous

AdjectiveCrossing the continent in a covered wagon was an arduous undertaking:difficult, hard, laborious, toilsome, wearisome,exhausting, fatiguing, tiring, burdensome, heavy, tough, troublesome,onerous, trying, full of hardships, formidable, severe,

Herculean; vigorous, strenuous, energetic.AntonymsLight, facile, easy, simple, effortless, smooth.

Artless

Adjective1 Her love was as artless as a child's: frank, candid, open, honest, true,guileless, innocent, na?ve, simple, humble,straightforward; sincere, unpretentious, trusting, undesigning, open-hearted, ingenuous, unsophisticated, unaffected, unselfconscious.2 Nothing can compare to the artless beauty of a waterfall: natural, pure,unadorned, plain, simple, primitive, crude.3 The painting was completely artless: inartistic, lacking art; withoutartistic talent, untalented.Antonyms1 cunning, crafty, sly, wily, dishonest, deceitful, designing, artful,insincere, pretended, faked, phony, false, counterfeit;sophisticated, affected, self-conscious; suspicious, distrustful.2 artificial, unnatural, synthetic.3 artistic, aesthetic.

Ascetic Noun1 Most of the early saints were extreme ascetics: self-denier, abstainer,self-mortifier; hermit, recluse, solitary, eremite,anchorite, celibate, cenobite; religious, monk, nun, flagellant; yogi, fakir,dervish.Adjective2 Trappist monks lead an ascetic existence: austere, self-denying,abstemious, strict, stern, Spartan, rigorous, selfmortifying.Antonyms1 hedonist, sensualist, voluptuary, sybarite, bon vivant.2 self-indulgent, indulgent, pampered, luxurious, comfortable; abandoned,dissolute, voluptuous, sensuous, sensual,

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sybaritic.

Assiduous

AdjectiveIt takes assiduous work to learn Russian. I admire an assiduous student:diligent, industrious, hardworking, laborious,unremitting, determined, persistent, persevering, earnest, steadfast,

constant, tenacious, dogged, untiring, tireless,unflagging, indefatigable, sed-ulous.Antonymsindolent, lazy, idle; haphazard, casual, cavalier, lax, hit-or-miss,undetermined, inconstant, happy-go-lucky.

Assuage

VerbLiniment will assuage the pain, but soaking in hot water does the injurymore good: allay, ease, relieve, mitigate; lighten,lessen, soften; mollify, alleviate, soothe, calm, quiet, still, pacify, appease,temper, take the edge off, tone down.Antonyms

Intensify, aggravate, irritate, exacerbate, heighten, sharpen, increase,augment; provoke, excite, arouse, kindle, inflame.

attenuate

Verb1 The silversmith attenuated the ingot into one long thread: draw out, makethin, make fine, make slender, spin out.2 Aspirin only attenuated the pain: weaken, reduce, diminish, lessen,decrease; dilute, water down, adulterate, impair,enervate, enfeeble.Antonyms1 broadens, make thick, make coarse, make fat, enlarge, expand.2 increase, amplify, intensify, augment, strengthen, develop.

Audacious Adjective1 Napoleon was an audacious leader: bold, daring, adventurous,venturesome, enterprising; brave, courageous, fearless,unafraid, valiant, intrepid, dauntless, stouthearted, lionhearted, stalwart,valorous, plucky, Slang gutsy.2 We admired the audacious feats of the trapeze artists: bold, daring,reckless, rash, risky, daredevil, devil-may-care, deathdefying,breakneck; heedless, foolhardy, injudicious, imprudent, desperate,hotheaded, self-willed, wild.3 Her audacious behavior shocked us all: impudent, impertinent, insolent,brazen, fresh, shameless, outrageous, defiant,unabashed, presumptuous, assuming, forward, saucy, cheeky, bossy, pert;disrespectful, rude, discourteous.Antonyms1 unadventurous, unenterprising; cowardly, fainthearted, craven,frightened, timid, pusillanimous, Slang yellow,chickenhearted, lily-livered.2 careful, guarded, discreet; prudent, circumspect, cautious, judicious.3 tactful, gracious, unassuming, cordial, amiable, ingratiating, deferential,

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reverential, obsequious, Informal kowtowing;polite, courteous, mannerly, well-mannered, gentlemanly, ladylike, refined,polished, formal.

austere

Adjective1 In the old days, schoolmasters were thought of as austere men: stern,

strict, severe, forbidding, ascetic.2 The Puritans led austere lives: rigorous, rigid, Spartan, ascetic, self-denying, abstemious, strict, simple, spare, stark,strait-laced, chaste.Antonyms1 permissive, lenient, indulgent, easy, flexible, lax; frivolous, gay, cheerful,joyful, merry, lighthearted, jovial, jolly, jaunty,nonchalant, lively, exuberant, vivacious, effervescent, high-spirited,playful, convivial; kindly, kind, sweet, genial.2 luxurious, lush, comfortable, easy; sophisticated, cosmopolitan; loose,corrupt, dissolute, dissipated, debauched,

degenerate, depraved, wanton, abandoned, self-gratifying, free-and-easy,immoral, wicked, evil, sinful, impure, lewd,licentious, lascivious.

Autonomous

AdjectiveThe school of adult education was an autonomous extension of theuniversity: self-governing, self-determined; selfsufficient,self-reliant, independent, sovereign, free.AntonymsGoverned, dependent, subject.

Aver

VerbThe witness averred that he had seen the suspect at the scene of the crime:assert, declare, affirm, state, avow, avouch,maintain, swear, insist, emphasize, contend, profess, represent, proclaim,pronounce, protest, asseverate; certify, verify,guarantee.AntonymsDeny, disavow, disclaim, repudiate; doubt, be uncertain, gainsay.

Banal

AdjectiveThere were no new ideas in his banal lecture: stale, trite, unoriginal,hackneyed, ordinary, commonplace, prosaic,pedestrian, unexciting, unimaginative, everyday, stock, humdrum, dull,uninteresting, conventional, stereotyped, insipid,threadbare, shopworn, tired, corny, clich?-ridden, vapid, platitudinous,bromidic, jejune.AntonymsOriginal, new, novel, unique, exciting, fresh, unusual, extraordinary,innovative, distinctive, stimulating, stimulative, gripping,provocative, challenging, imaginative, interesting.

Belie Verb1 The facts belie your story: disprove, refute, contradict, controvert,

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repudiate, show to be false, give the lie to, invalidate,gainsay, negate, betray, deny, defy.2 The author's smile belied his anger with the critic: misrepresent, falsify;disguise, camouflage, mask, conceal, cloak.Antonyms

1 proves, verify, attest to, validate, support, confirm, corroborate.2 represent, reveal, disclose, indicate.

Beneficent

Adj. doing good or causing good to be done; charitable.1.BeneficialAdjectiveExercise is beneficial to good health: helpful, advantageous, propitious,useful, valuable, contributive, favorable, profitable,productive; healthful, healing, good for.AntonymsUseless, detrimental, detractive, disadvantageous; unfavorable, harmful,pernicious, unwholesome.

Bolster

Verb1 More timbers are needed to bolster the roof of the mine: support, brace,prop up, hold up, buttress, reinforce, maintain,sustain, shore up, shoulder, cradle.2 More facts are needed to bolster your argument: support, uphold, sustain,strengthen, reinforce, add to, help, aid, assist.Noun3 Put the bolster on the couch: cushion, pillow.Antonyms1 weighs down.2 diminish, lessen, weaken, tear down.

Bombastic

AdjectiveNo one believed his bombastic claims: grandiloquent, pompous, windy,padded, inflated, magniloquent, tumid, turgid,verbose, wordy.AntonymsTemperate, unpretentious, modest, natural, simple, unaffected, deflated,quiet.

Boorish

AdjectiveShe considers the peasants boorish: crude, rude, coarse, vulgar, unrefined,unpolished, uncouth, gauche, loutish, oafish,rustic, peasantlike.AntonymsGenteel, polite, polished, cultured, refined, cultivated, gentlemanly,courtly, gallant, lady-like; sophisticated, urbane,cosmopolitan.

Burgeon VerbHousing developments are burgeoning on all sides. Spring has begun toburgeon in every valley and glade: thrive, flourish,expand, enlarge, grow, develop, mushroom, escalate, wax, increase, spring

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up, shoot up, proliferate, augment, spread;bloom, blossom, flower, blow, effloresce, open, fructify, bear fruit.

Burnish

VerbThe silver bracelet was burnished to a bright finish: polish, wax, buff,shine, smooth, and rub up.

AntonymsAbrade, scratch, mar.

Buttress

Noun1 The north wall of the cathedral had a beautiful stone buttress: support,brace, prop, stanchion, abutment, arch, stay, andshoulder.Verb2 Buttress that fence with some two-by-fours. You'd better buttress yourargument with more facts: prop, prop up, brace,shore, shore up, reinforce, strengthen, bolster, support, boost, steel.

Cacophonous

Adjective

The cacophonous sounds of the street came through the open window:dissonant, inharmonious, harsh, raucous, discordant,unmusical, unmelodious, strident, screechy, jarring, grating,disharmonious, nonmelodious; out of tune, off-key, offpitch.

Capricious

AdjectiveThe capricious man bought and exchanged three shirts in a week:changeable, fickle, variable, impulsive, erratic, flighty,skittish, mercurial, fanciful, faddish; indecisive, undecided, irresolute,uncertain, wavering, vacillating, shilly-shallying;irresponsible, inconsistent, unsteady, unstable, fitful, uneven, eccentric,quirky.AntonymsConsistent, unchangeable, inflexible, unmovable, firm, fixed, unwavering,invariable, unswerving; resolute, determined,steadfast, certain, decided, decisive; serious, responsible, steady, stable,even.

Castigate

VerbThe principal castigated the students for their unruly behavior: chastise,upbraid, rebuke, censure, reprimand, reproach,chasten, reprove, berate, scold, admonish, criticize, chide, call on thecarpet, bawl out, chew out, dress down, haul over thecoals, take to task; punish, discipline, correct, penalize.AntonymsPraise, laud, compliment, honor; reward, encourage.

Catalyst

cat?a?lyst (kat"l ist), n.1. a substance that causes or speeds a chemical reaction without itself beingaffected.2. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change.[1900?05; CATALY(SIS) + (-I)ST]

Caustic Adjective

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1 Acid is caustic: burning, corrosive, corroding, erosive; astringent,stinging, biting, gnawing, sharp.2 His caustic remarks hurt our feelings: sarcastic, biting, stinging, cutting,scathing, sharp, harsh, acrid, acrimonious, tart,bitter.

Antonyms1 soothing, healing; bland, mild.2 flattering, complimentary; sweet, kind, loving, pleasant, pleasing, gentle,gracious, agreeable, mild, bland.

Chicanery

NounThere was some chicanery with our reservations, and we complained to thetravel agent: deception, trickery, fraud, deceit,cozenage, gulling, guile, hocus-pocus, double-dealing, duplicity, duping,subterfuge, hoodwinking, pettifoggery,humbuggery; knavery, roguery, rascality, villainy.

Coagulate

Verb

Certain drugs cause blood to coagulate: clot, congeal; solidify, set, gel, jell,jellify, harden, curdle; thicken.AntonymsLiquefy, melt, dissolve, and soften.

Coda

1. A concluding passage of a musical composition.2. A concluding section, esp. one serving as a summation of precedingthemes, as in a drama.3. Anything that serves as a conclusion or summation.

Cogent

AdjectiveHe gave us several cogent reasons why the plan would inevitably fail:compelling, valid, persuasive, forceful, powerful,potent, trenchant, convincing, well-founded, incontrovertible, sound,meritorious, weighty, effective, undeniable, wellgrounded.AntonymsUnconvincing, unsound, dubious, implausible, improbable.

Commensurate

also commensurableAdjectiveHer salary is commensurate with her ability and experience: in accord,consistent, in agreement, suitable, fitting,appropriate, compatible, corresponding, proportionate, comparable, on aproper scale, relative, equal, equivalent, even,balanced, meet, parallel, relative, square.AntonymsInconsistent, unsuitable, inappropriate, unfitting, incompatible,disproportionate, dissimilar, incomparable, unequal,discordant.

Compendium

NounIt was fascinating to browse through the compendium of quotations: digest,abridgment, condensation, abstract, brief,epitome, overview, pr?cis, summary.

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Complaisant

AdjectiveThe host's complaisant manner made everyone feel welcome: obliging,solicitous, pleasing, agreeable, compliant, cordial,congenial, affable, warm, gracious, friendly, pleasant, amiable, good-natured, good-humored, easygoing.

AntonymsUnobliging, contrary, unsolicitous, uncooperative, indifferent;disagreeable, unpleasant, cold, unfriendly, ungracious.

Compliance

NounCompliance with the traffic laws is necessary for safe driving. Yes-men areknown for their compliance: conformity,conforming, obedience, yielding, giving in, submission, deference; assent,acquiescence, complaisance, pliancy,nonresistance, passivity, docility, meekness.Antonymsnoncompliance, nonconformity, disobedience, resistance, rebelliousness,

assertiveness, individuality, stubbornness;obstinacy.

Conciliatory

AdjectiveOne conciliatory remark would make them friends again: peacemaking,reconciling, friendly, reassuring, placatory,pacifying, mollifying, accommodative, appeasing.AntonymsAntagonistic, hostile, unfriendly, unforgiving.

Condone

VerbParents must not condone their children's bad behavior: overlook, let pass,ignore, disregard, put up with, wink at; forgive,excuse, pardon, justify, absolve, forget.AntonymsCondemn, denounce, censure, disapprove; punish, castigate.

Confound

VerbThe patient's unusual symptoms confounded the doctor: perplex, confuse,baffle, bewilder, puzzle, mystify, mix up,disconcert, unsettle, nonplus, rattle, fluster, throw off the scent; amaze,astound, astonish, surprise, startle, dumfound,flabbergast, strike with wonder.AntonymsEnlighten, explain, solve, clear up, clarify.

Connoisseur

NounThe old gentleman was a connoisseur of fine wines: expert, judge,authority, mavin, person of good taste, cognoscente;epicure, gourmet.

Contention Noun1 Border raiding led to even more contention: struggle, strife, conflict,combat, altercation, feud, wrangle, rivalry, contest;argument, debate, dispute, disagreement, controversy, dispute, dissension,

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falling out, opposition, discord.2 It was his contention that she was lazy: allegation, charge, assertion,claim, position, point.Antonyms1 peace; accord, agreement.

Contentious

Contentious (kn ten"shs), adj.1. tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome: a contentious crew.2. causing, involving, or characterized by argument or controversy:contentious issues.3. pertaining to causes between contending parties involved in litigation.con?ten"tious?ly, adv.con?ten"tious?ness, n.

Contrite

AdjectiveHis contrite manner made us forgives him: conscience-stricken, sorrowful,regretful, repentant, rueful, penitent, remorseful,apologetic, chastened, humbled.

Antonymsproud, pleased, uncontrite, unrepentant, unapologetic.

Conundrum

NounNo one in the room could find the answer to the conundrum: puzzle, riddle,enigma, mystery, poser, puzzler, paradox,arcanum, brain-teaser, stumper, stopper, Chinese puzzle, rebus, problem.

Converge

VerbThe Mississippi and Missouri rivers converge at St. Louis. A lensconverges light rays: come together, meet, approach;focus, concentrate, bring together.AntonymsDiverge, separate, part, scatter, disperse.

Convolution

NounThe children were fascinated by the convolutions of the snake: coiling,coil, twisting, twist, winding, undulation, contortion;sinuosity, sinuousness, tortuousness; maze, labyrinth.AntonymsUncoiling, unwinding.

Craven

AdjectiveRefusing to stand and fight was a craven thing to do: cowardly, dastardly,pusillanimous; timid, timorous, fearful, frightened,scared; Slang yellow, lily-livered, chicken-hearted; mean-spirited, base,low, lowdown.AntonymsBrave, courageous, heroic, fearless, valorous, valiant, dauntless; bold,daring, audacious.

Daunt VerbCrossing the country in wagons did not daunt the early pioneers:intimidate, dismay, faze, discourage, dishearten, deject,depress, dash, unnerve, subdue, browbeat, cow, abash, menace, threaten;

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frighten, scare, alarm, affright.AntonymsEmbolden, encourage, cheer, animate, enliven.

Decorum

NounJennifer always acts with decorum: propriety, politeness; tact, gentility,

respectability, dignity, taste; good form.AntonymsImpropriety, inappropriate behavior, bad manners.

default

noun1 If the team doesn't show up, they will lose by default: failure to appear oract.2 His car was repossessed because of default of the monthly installment:nonpayment; failure to pay.

Deference

NounOut of deference to her age and position, the committee followed hersuggestions: consideration, respect, reverence, honor,

esteem, regard; obedience, capitulation.AntonymsDisrespect, contempt; defiance, disobedience.

delineate

de?lin?e?ate (di lin"e at'), v.t., -at?ed, -at?ing.1. to trace the outline of; represent pictorially.2. to portray in words; describe with precision.de?lin"e?a?ble (- bl), adj.de?lin"e?a'tor, n.

Denigrate

VerbHe has a mentality that denigrates everything it doesn't understand: defame,malign, slander, tear down, abuse, stigmatize,tra-duce, disparage, run down, besmirch, downgrade, blacken, call names,calumniate, backbite, smear, vilify, revile,asperse, soil, sully; Slang give a black eye, drag through the mud, stab inthe back, badmouth, dump on.AntonymsPraise, commend, acclaim, exalt, boost.

DerideVerbThey derided the new music: ridicule, mock, scoff, scorn, sneer at.

Derivative

Adjective1 The derivative essay received low marks: derived, unoriginal, borrowed,copied, evolved, imitative, inferred, not original,obtained, plagiarized, rehashed, secondhand.Noun2 offshoot, outgrowth, byproduct, derivation, descendant, product, spinoff.Antonyms1 original, archetypal, authentic, genuine, seminal.

Desiccate des?ic?cate (des"i kat'), v., -cat?ed, -cat?ing.v.t.1. to dry thoroughly; dry up.

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2. to preserve (food) by removing moisture; dehydrate.v.i.3. to become thoroughly dried.[1565?75; < L desiccatus dried up, ptp. of desiccare = de- + siccare, der. ofsiccus dry]

des'ic?ca"tion, n.des"ic?ca'tive, adj.des"ic?ca'tor, n.

Desultory

des?ul?to?ry (des"*l t?r'e, -tor'e), adj.1. lacking in consistency, method, purpose, or visible order; disconnected:desultory conversation.2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject: a desultoryremark.[1575?85; < L desultorius pertaining to a desultor (a circus rider whojumps from one horse to another), der. of desul-, var.s. of desilire to jump down]

des"ul?to'ri?ly, adv.des"ul?to'ri?ness, n.

deterrentNounPunishment is not necessarily a deterrent to crime: restraint, curb,hindrance, check, discouragement.

Diatribe

NounIn her diatribe she gave full vent to all her resentments against him: verbalor written castigation, bitter harangue, tirade,violent denunciation, stream of abuse, accusatory language, invective,vituperation, contumely.

Dichotomy

di?chot?o?my (di kot"* me), n., pl. -mies.1. division into two parts or kinds; subdivision into halves or pairs.2. division into two exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: adichotomy between thought and action.3. a mode of branching by constant forking, as in some stems.4. the phase of the moon or of an inferior planet when half of its disk isvisible.[1600?10; < Gk]

diffidence

NounHis diffidence keeps him from making friends: timidity, timidness,timorousness, shyness, meekness, insecurity, retiringdisposition, reserve, constraint, introversion; bashfulness, extrememodesty, humbleness, want of self-confidence,unassertiveness, sheepishness, lack of self-assurance; hesitancy, reluctance.AntonymsBoldness, audaciousness, forwardness, assertiveness, aggressiveness; self-confidence, confidence.

Diffuse Adjective1 The room was bathed in soft, diffuse light: scattered, spread out,unconcentrated, dispersed, extended widely; vaguely

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defined.2 His talk was so diffuse I missed his point: wordy, verbose, discursive,rambling, long-winded, lacking conciseness,disjointed, digressive, not concentrated, desultory, roundabout, wandering,meandering, maundering, circumlocutory.

Antonyms1 concentrated.2 succinct, concise, terse, pithy, compact; methodical, organized.

Digression

NounHis long digression made him forget his main point: divergence, departure,deviation, detour, straying, wandering; diversion,obiter dictum, side remark, divagation.

dirge

NounHe composed a dirge to honor the war dead: funeral song, requiem, deathsong, death march, lament, burial hymn,threnody, mournful composition; mournful sound.

Disabuse

VerbSomeone ought to disabuse him of those star-struck notions: enlightenabout, free from error, clear the mind of, disillusion,disenchant, rid of deception, relieve of, set straight, set right, open the eyesof, free of a mistaken belief.

Discerning

AdjectiveThe mediator was discerning in his analysis of the problem: perceptive,acute, perspicacious, sharp, astute, penetrating,keen-sighted, sensitive, piercing, discriminating, shrewd, intelligent, wise,judicious, sage, sagacious, clear-sighted, sharpsighted;showing discernment, quick to discern, having keen insight.AntonymsUndiscerning, unperceptive, indiscriminate.

discordant

dis?cord?ant (dis k?r"dnt), adj.1. being at variance; disagreeing; incongruous.2. disagreeable to the ear; dissonant; harsh.[1250?1300; ME discordaunt < AF < L]dis?cord"ant?ly, adv.

discredit

verb1 She discredited his good name with ugly gossip: defame, abuse,dishonor, impair the reputation of, disgrace, vilify,disparage, smirch, smear, debase, degrade, demean, vitiate, tarnish, taint,undermine, slur, sully, stigmatize, drag throughthe mud.2 The insurance investigator discredited his false claim: prove false, deny,disallow, disprove, reject; destroy confidence in,shake one's faith in, undermine belief in; dispute, challenge, question.Antonyms1 credit, praise, laud.2 credit, prove, support, accept, verify.

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discrepancy

nounThere is a great discrepancy between his version of the accident and yours:difference, inconsistency, variance,disagreement, discordance, lack of correspondence, disparity, dissimilarity,divergence, incongruity, gap.

Antonyms correspondence, accord.

Discrete

AdjectiveThe Liberal Arts College has been reorganized into six discretedepartments: separate, distinct, different, detached,disconnected, discontinuous, disjunctive, unattached, independent,unassociated; several, various.AntonymsMerged, combined, interdependent, united, linked, connected.

disingenuous

AdjectiveTheir disingenuous protests irritated us: dishonest, insincere, artful,cunning, designing, duplicitous, false, feigned, guileful,

shifty, sly, wily, two-faced, tricky.AntonymsIngenuous.

Disinterested

AdjectiveWe need a disinterested party to settle the argument: impartial, unbiased,neutral, free from bias, unprejudiced, impersonal,outside, uninvolved, dispassionate, free from self-interest.AntonymsPartial, biased, prejudiced, selfish, having an axe to grind.

Disjointed

Adjective1 The structure of the house seemed somehow disjointed: disconnected,detached, having the joints separated,unconnected, unattached, split, divided, apart, disarticulated, helter-skelter.2 The movie was too disjointed to make sense: rambling, mixed-up,confused, spasmodic, disconnected, disorganized,jumbled, tangled, chaotic, disharmonious, discontinuous, heterogeneous,incoherent, irrational, illogical.Antonyms1 jointed, connected, attached.2 sensible, coherent, logical.

dismiss verb1 The workers were dismissed for lunch. Dismiss the meeting: allow toleave, permit to go, release, excuse, send forth, letgo, disperse; dissolve, adjourn, disband; free, liberate.2 She was dismissed for loafing on the job: fire, oust, discharge fromoffice, put out of a job, sack, can, let go, terminate,remove from service, bounce, send packing, give one his walking papers,cashier, Slang pink-slip, give the heave-ho.3 I trust her and dismiss any suggestion of dishonesty: put out of mind,reject, set aside, disregard, disclaim, discard, lay

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aside, repudiate, eliminate.Antonyms1 hold, detain, recall.2 hire, employ, accept, admit.3 welcome, accept.

Disparage

VerbDon't disparage his attempts to better himself: belittle, ridicule, discredit,run down, put down, mock, denigrate, demean,undervalue, underrate, depreciate, slight, detract from, derogate.AntonymsApplaud, praise, laud, extol, acclaim, commend, compliment, appreciate.

disparate

adjectiveTheir views are unusually disparate for brothers: dissimilar, different,unlike, contrasting, at odds, at variance, discrepant,discordant.Antonyms

similar, like, homogeneous, parallel, accord-ant.

dissemble

verbHe tried to dissemble his disappointment with a joke: hide, mask, disguise,camouflage, feign, conceal, dissimulate.Antonymsshow, manifest, evidence, reveal.

disseminateverbPlato's philosophy has been disseminated throughout the world: scatter,spread, diffuse, disperse, circulate, broadcast.

Dissolute

AdjectiveHe was a dissolute young man who thought only of his own pleasure:dissipated, corrupt, loose, debauched, immoral;unrestrained, abandoned.Antonymsmoral, upright, temperate, sober, prudent, circumspect.

Dissonance

Noun1 The experimental music seemed nothing but dissonance to us: discord,cacophony, discordance, harshness, jangle,jarring, noise.2 Dissonance in the merged companies broke out almost at once:disharmony, antagonism, breach, break, conflict,disagreement, discord, disparity, dissension, dissidence, disunion, division,divorce, hostility, incongruity, inconsistency, rift,rupture, schism, variance.

distendverbThe children's stomachs were distended by malnutrition: swell, bloat, swellout, expand, bulge, inflate, billow, puff out.

distill verb1 The liquid distills when heated: evaporate, condense, vaporize.2 Whiskey is distilled from a fermented mash of grain. Impurities are

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removed by distilling water: separate by evaporation,produce by vaporization and condensation, purify by distillation; extract,draw out, draw forth.

diverge

verb1 The path diverges right after the pond: separate, deviate, split off, swerve,

deflect.2 Her politics and mine diverge greatly: differ, conflict, disagree, be atodds.Antonyms1 converges, agree, concur.

divest

verb1 He divested himself of his clothing: strip or remove (clothing), disrobe;take off, get out of, peel off.2 During the Depression, the family was divested of its home: deprive,dispossess; rid, strip, free.Antonyms

1 clothe, dress, cover.

document

noun1 There are many documents containing the king's signature: official paper,record, instrument, legal form.verb2 The lawyer gathered evidence to document the charges: support, back up,give weight to, verify, certify, substantiate.

dogmatic

adjective1 She's so dogmatic you can't tell her anything: opinionated, arbitrary,biased, prejudiced; imperious, dictatorial,domineering; stubborn, obstinate.2 The Nicene Creed is one of the most important dogmatic statements ofthe Christian faith: doctrinal, expressing dogma.Antonyms1 diffident, vacillating, uncertain; docile, complaisant.

dormant

adjectiveThe geyser has been dormant for five years: inactive, quiescent, idle;sleeping, somnolent; hibernating.Antonymsactive, operative, moving, awake.

dupe

noun1 He was the dupe of the racketeers and may go to prison: pawn, patsy, fallguy, cat's paw, Slang sucker.verb2 The agency duped her into signing up for $200 worth of lessons: trick,fool, mislead, deceive; humbug, bamboozle,hoodwink.

ebullience nounHer ebullience could not be denied: enthusiasm, exuberance, animation,buoyancy, effervescence, effusiveness, elation,

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excitement, exhilaration, vitality, vivaciousness, vivacity, liveliness, highspirits.Antonymsapathy, lifelessness.

eclectic

adjective

The disc jockey played an eclectic selection of music: mixed, assorted,catholic, diverse, heterogeneous, multifarious, wideranging,varied, general.

efficacious

adjectiveNone of the prescriptions were efficacious: effective, capable, successful,serviceable, effectual, efficient.Antonymsineffective.

effrontery

nounWhat effrontery to barge in uninvited!: shamelessness, brazenness,brashness, impertinence, insolence, impudence,

presumption, arrogance, audacity, temerity, cheek, nerve, gall, brass,Yiddish chutzpah.Antonymsmodesty, reserve, shyness, timidity, bashfulness; respect, diffidence.

Elegy

NounThe poet laureate composed an elegy upon the death of the king: poem oflamentation, lament for the dead, melancholypoem, sad poem; requiem, funeral song, song of lamentation, melancholypiece of music.AntonymsPaean, jubilee, hallelujah, anthem.

elicit

verbThe mayor's remark elicited a flood of letters: bring forth, draw forth, drawout, call forth, evoke, extract, exact, extort, derive,wrest, fetch, cause, educe, bring to light.Antonymsrepress, discourage.

Embellish

VerbHe embellished his signature with a series of curlicues: enhance, elaborate,exaggerate, ornament, decorate, adorn,beautify, garnish, gild, color, embroider, dress up, fancy up, set off, Slanggussy up.AntonymsSimplify, strip bare.

empirical

adjectiveThe old sailor had never studied navigation, but he had a good empiricalknowledge of it: practical, experiential, pragmatic;experimental, firsthand.Antonymstheoretical, secondhand.

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emulate

verbPoliticians would do well to emulate Abraham Lincoln: take as a model,follow the example of, pattern oneself after, follow,copy, imitate; try to equal, rival; mimic, ape.

endemic

Noun

1. A disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in peopleof a certain class or in people living in aparticular locationAdjective1. (of disease or anything resembling a disease) constantly present togreater or lesser extent in a particular locality.2. (ecology) native to or confined to a certain region3. Originating where it is found---Synonymsautochthonal, autochthonic, autochthonous, indigenous.

enervate

verb

The long march in the sun enervated the soldiers: exhaust, weary, weaken,de-bilitate, devitalize, enfeeble, disable, sapone's energy, deplete, wash out, fatigue, tire, prostrate, Slang bush, fag,tucker.Antonymsenergize, invigorate, strengthen, vitalize, stimulate, quicken.

engender

verbRespect can engender love: give rise to, cause, bring about, beget, breed,generate, produce, occasion, precipitate.Antonymskill, end, crush.

enhance

verbThe splendid dress enhanced her beauty: intensify, heighten, magnify,make more attractive, make more appealing;elevate, lift, raise, boost; redouble, embellish, augment, add to,complement.Antonymsdiminish, reduce, lessen, decrease, minimize, depreciate, detract from.

ephemeral

adjectiveThere is no point in lamenting the ephemeral joys of youth: brief,temporary, transient, short-lived, temporal, transitory,fleeting, impermanent, evanescent, momentary, passing, fugitive,unenduring, nondurable, inconstant, fly-by-night, flitting,fugacious.Antonymspermanent, lasting, enduring, everlasting, perpetual, abiding.

equanimity nounWe must keep our equanimity during times of crisis: calmness, composure,self-possession, steadiness, poise, aplomb,coolness, imperturbability, presence of mind, self-control, tranquillity,

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sangfroid, Informal cool.Antonymspanic, hysteria, disquiet, perturbation, agitation, discomposure.

equivocate

verbPlease stop equivocating and give me a straight answer: evade, avoid the

issue, hedge, stall, dodge, beat around the bush,fudge, pussyfoot, be ambiguous, mince words, prevaricate, straddle thefence.

erudite

adjectiveThe professor was an erudite man. The TV newscaster was known for hiserudite comments: learned, well-informed, welleducated,well-versed, literate, well-read, cultured, cultivated, scholarly, thoughtful,intelligent, well-reasoned, wise, sapient.Antonymsuninformed, uneducated, illiterate, unscholarly; shallow, unthinking; rash,ill-advised.

esoteric

adjective1 Some fields of science seem hopelessly esoteric to the layman:incomprehensible, abstruse, recondite, arcane, cryptic,enigmatic, inscrutable, mysterious, obscure.2 The tribe has an esoteric ritual that no outsider may witness: secret,undisclosed, private, confidential, inviolable, hidden,concealed, covert, veiled, cloaked; mystical, occult.Antonyms1 obvious, clear, plain, simple.2 public, open, exoteric.

eulogy

NounLincoln's Gettysburg Address is a great eulogy: oration of praise, praise ofthe dead, encomium, panegyric; high praise,tribute, homage, hosanna, acclamation, laudation, citation, paean, plaudit.Antonymscondemnation, criticism; vilification, defamation, aspersion, calumny,slander, libel.

euphemism

noun"Maiden lady" is a euphemism for "old maid": mild expression, restrainedexpression, inoffensive expression, delicate term,refined term; prudish phrase, overdelicacy, overrefinement, prudishness.

Exacerbate

VerbOffering your opinion will only exacerbate the situation: aggravate,exaggerate, intensify, inflame, heighten, worsen,magnify, sharpen, deepen, fan the flames, pour oil on the fire, add fuel tothe flames, rub salt into the wound, add insult toinjury.Antonymsrelieve, soothe, comfort, alleviate, assuage, mollify.

exculpate Verb

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Pronounce not guilty of criminal charges: acquit, assoil, clear, discharge,exonerate.

Exigency

Noun1 A ship's captain must be able to cope with any exigency: emergency,contingency, crisis, circumstance, predicament,

quandary, plight, strait, extremity, difficulty, hardship; Slang pickle, pinch,scrape, fix, jam.2 We have to cope with the exigencies of daily living: requirements,necessities, demands, needs, constraints, urgencies.

extrapolate

ex?trap?o?late (ik strap"* lat'), v., -lat?ed, -lat?ing.v.t.1. to infer (an unknown) from something that is known; conjecture.2. to estimate (the value of a statistical variable) outside the tabulated orobserved range.3. Math. to estimate (a function that is known over a range of values of itsindependent variable) to values outside the

known range.v.i.4. to perform extrapolation.[1825?35; EXTRA- + (INTER)POLATE]ex?trap'o?la"tion, n.ex?trap"o?la'tive, adj.ex?trap"o?la'tor, n.

facetious

adjectiveHe kept us laughing with his facetious remarks: humorous, funny, amusing,jocular, joking, jovial, jesting, witty, clever,jocose, droll, comic, comical, playful, wisecracking.Antonymssolemn, serious, sober, lugubrious, grave, sedate, staid, sad, dull.

facilitate

verbAn addressing machine facilitates the handling of bulk mail: expedite,speed up, accelerate, ease, simplify, help in, makeless difficult, make easier, assist the progress of, lessen the labor of,lighten, smooth; forward, help to advance, promote,further, advance, aid, foster.Antonymshinder, hamper, complicate, encumber, slow down.

Fallacious

AdjectiveThe rumors were patently fallacious: incorrect, false, deceptive, erroneous,deluding, fictitious, illusory, fraudulent, invalid,mistaken, misleading, off, sophistic, spurious, unfounded, ungrounded,wrong, unsound, untrue.

Fatuous AdjectiveShe's so fatuous she thinks all the fellows are flirting with her: foolish,inane, silly, vacant in mind, simple, stupid, brainless,witless, vapid, vacuous, asinine, imbecile, idiotic, puerile, obtuse, besotted,

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senseless, moronic, ridiculous.Antonymssensible, prudent, judicious, wise, sage, sapient, clever, bright, intelligent,smart, witty

Fawning

Adjective

In the movie he played a fawning courtier: sycophantic, obsequious,compliant, bootlicking, cowering, servile, cringing,deferential, crawling, flattering, ingratiating, scraping, kowtowing,subservient, submissive.

Felicitous

Adjective1 Champagne is for weddings and other felicitous occasions: happy, joyful,joyous, fortunate, propitious.2 The young man searched hard for a felicitous last line to his poem: apt,appropriate, suitable, relevant, pertinent,germane, fitting, well-chosen, well-put, well-said, pleasing, happy,inspired; effective.

Antonyms1 infelicitous, solemn, inappropriate.2 infelicitous, awkward, clumsy, unfortunate.

fervor

NounThe pilgrims arrived at the shrine and offered their prayers with fervor:ardor, passion, intensity, earnestness, vehemence,verve, zeal, animation, gusto, fire, enthusiasm, heartiness, eagerness, zest,warmth; piety, devoutness, seriousness,purposefulness.Antonymsboredom, ennui, apathy, detachment, dispassion.

flag

noun1 The country's flag was displayed in every window: banner, emblem,standard, ensign, streamer, pennant, colors; (in theU.S.) stars and stripes, Old Glory, stars and bars; (in Great Britain) UnionJack.verb2 The highway patrol flagged us away from the accident: signal, warn,wave.3 My energy flagged after climbing all those steps: decline, grow weak,wilt, give way, languish; grow spiritless, fall off invigor, abate, slump, succumb, subside, sag, pall; fade, grow weary, tire,totter, dodder; faint, sink, ebb, wane, fail.Antonyms3 freshen, recover, brace up.

Fledgling

NounAs a pilot, he's still a fledgling: inexperienced person, novice, beginner,tyro, freshman, apprentice; Informal greenhorn,tenderfoot.

Flout Verb

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She flouted convention by wearing black at her wedding: scorn, showcontempt for, scoff at, spurn, laugh at, jeer at, gibe at,sneer at, defy, treat with disdain, mock, poke fun at; twit, taunt, chaff, rag,insult.Antonyms

Revere; regard, respect, esteem.

foment

verbHe did his best to foment a quarrel between the brothers: stir up, incite,foster, promote, instigate, provoke, urge, excite,stimulate, galvanize, foster; rouse, arouse, kindle, inflame, spur, goad,agitate; irritate, aggravate, exacerbate, quicken, fanthe fire, fan into flame, blow the coals.AntonymsQuell, suppress, repress, quench; check, curb, restrain; allay, discourage,destroy, extinguish, extirpate.

forestall

verb

Labor and management have agreed on a temporary settlement, therebyfore-stalling a strike: prevent, thwart, ward off,avert, deter, avoid, head off, circumvent; counteract, block, preclude,obviate; anticipate, guard against; Informal steal amarch on, beat to the punch.

frugality

nounIn middle age he was known for extreme frugality: carefulness,economizing, conservation, moderation, economy,prudence, scrimping, saving, thrift, stinginess, miserliness, avariciousness,parsimony

futile

adjectiveHis efforts to save the business were futile: useless, fruitless, vain,profitless, idle, worthless, valueless, bootless,unprofitable; ineffective, ineffectual, unsuccessful, unavailing, abortive,nugatory; trifling, trivial, insignificant, empty, petty,frivolous, unimportant.Antonymseffective, fruitful, successful; profitable, useful, worthy; important,significant.

gainsay

gain?say (gan"sa', gan sa"), v.t., -said, -say?ing.1. to deny; dispute; contradict.2. to speak or act against; oppose.[1250?1300; ME gainsaien; see AGAIN, SAY]gain"say'er, n.

garrulous

adjectiveShe's so garrulous you can't get a word in edgewise: talkative, effusive,loquacious; wordy, windy, verbose, long-winded;gabby, voluble, chattery, chatty, prattling, prating, babbling; gossipy.Antonymsreticent, taciturn, quiet, reserved, closemouthed; terse, concise.

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goad

noun1 The drovers used goads to keep the herd moving: prod, cattle prod, prick,pointed stick.2 Fear of failure can be a goad to hard work: incentive, stimulus, stimulant,motive, motivation, driving motive, pressure,

spur; inducement, encouragement, instigation, whet, fillip.verb3 His wife goaded him to ask for a raise: prod, urge, exhort, constrain,incite, spur, push, pressure, drive, stir up, arouse,Slang egg on; stimulate, impel, propel, move, press, set on.Antonyms2 detriment, curb.3 deter, keep back, hold back.

gouge

gouge (gouj), n., v., gouged, goug?ing.n.1. a chisel having a partly cylindrical blade with the bevel on either the

concave or the convex side.2. an act of gouging.3. a hole made by gouging.4. an act of extortion; swindle.5. a. a layer of decomposed rocks or minerals found along the walls of avein.b. fragments of rock that have accumulated between or along the walls of afault.v.t.6. to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge.7. to dig or force out with or as if with a gouge (often fol. by out ).8. to make a gouge in: to gouge one's leg.9. to extort from or overcharge.v.i.10. to engage in extortion or swindling.[1300?50; < MF < LL gu(l)bia, perh. < Celtic; cf. OIr gulba sting, Welshgylf beak, Cornish gilb borer]goug"er, n.

Grandiloquent

AdjectiveThe grandiloquent speech went on for over an hour: high-flown, high-sounding, flowery, florid, grandiose, pompous,pretentious, bombastic, inflated, turgid, swollen, stilted; magniloquent,lofty, rhetorical; Slang highfalutin.AntonymsSimple, direct, unaffected, plain-spoken, matter-of-fact, low-keyed; base,lowly.

gregarious adjectiveA gregarious person loves parties: sociable, social, genial, outgoing,convivial, extroverted, companionable, affable, friendly;vivacious, lively, talkative.

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Antonymsunsociable, solitary, reclusive, introverted, retiring, shy.

guileless

adjectiveThe child gave a guileless answer to the question: straightforward, candid,frank, open, natural, honest, sincere, truthful,

aboveboard; artless, undesigning; ingenuous, naive, unsophisticated,innocent, simple, unaffected, unselfconscious;harmless, innocuous, unoffending.Antonymssly, cunning, deceitful, crafty, tricky, deceptive, artful; treacherous,fraudulent

Gullible

AdjectiveThe youth was so gullible he bought the Brooklyn Bridge from a con man!:easily fooled, easily deceived, easily cheated,easily duped; overtrusting, unsuspicious, credulous, trusting, trustful;naive, innocent, unsophisticated, inexperienced,

green, simple.AntonymsCynical, suspicious, untrusting, hard to convince; sophisticated, worldly.

harangue

ha?rangue (h* rang"), n., v., -rangued, -rangu?ing.n.1. a scolding or a verbal attack; diatribe.2. a long, passionate, and vehement speech, esp. one delivered before apublic gathering.3. any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didacticnature; sermonizing discourse.v.t.4. to address in a harangue.v.i.5. to deliver a harangue.[1530?40; < MF < It ar(r)inga speech, oration, n. der. of ar(r)ingare tospeak in public, v. der. of aringo public square < Go*hriggs RING1]synSee SPEECH.

homogeneous

adjectiveIt was a homogeneous crowd of teenage girls, all wearing jeans andsweaters: of the same kind, all alike, of a piece;uniform, unmixed, unvarying, unadulterated; consistent, constant, pure;akin, kindred, similar, identical.Antonymsheterogeneous, mixed, varied, varying, variegated, different, diverse,divers, various, divergent.

hyperbole noun"She's as big as a house" is an example of hyperbole: overstatement,exaggeration, enlargement, magnification,

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extravagant statement, figurative statement, stretch of the imagination;figure of speech, metaphor.AntonymsUnderstatement.

iconoclast

noun

He's an iconoclast who will have nothing to do with organized religion:dissenter, rebel, nonconformist, upstart, radical,revolutionary.Antonymsconformist, assenter.

idolatry

noun1 Idolatry was commonplace in many early pagan religions: worship of anobject, image-worship, reverence of idols,idolization.2 Only a millionaire could satisfy that woman's idolatry of jewels:inordinate love, worship, adoration, obsession,

preoccupation, excessive fondness, passion, devotion, veneration, single-minded attention, infatuation, senselessattachment, madness, mania.

immutable

AdjectivePlatinum is one of the most immutable of metals: unchanging,unchangeable, changeless, unvarying, unaltered, unalterable,incontrovertible, unmodifiable, intransmutable; permanent, lasting,enduring, stable; firm, fixed, solid, constant, inflexible.AntonymsChangeable, unstable, alterable, flexible, variable.

impair

verbThe water shortage impaired the city's fire-fighting capacity: hinder,damage, mar, hurt, vitiate, harm, cripple, subvert, injure,lessen, weaken, enfeeble, decrease, undercut, detract from, reduce;enervate, debilitate, worsen.Antonymsimprove, amend; repair; better, ameliorate, enhance, facilitate, increase.

impassive

adjectiveThe moderator maintained an impassive manner throughout the furiousdebate: emotionless, unemotional, unmoved,imperturbable, dispassionate, aloof, stoical, untouched, stony, calm, cool,sedate, reserved, unperturbed, unimpressible,inscrutable, impervious, stolid, apathetic, phlegmatic, unimpressionable,insensible, indifferent.Antonymsresponsive, emotional, passionate, excited, perturbed.

impede verbA lumber shortage impeded construction on the house: delay, slow down,block, interfere with, interrupt, check, retard,obstruct, hinder, thwart, frustrate, inhibit, arrest, sidetrack, stall, stymie,

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deter, hamper, hold back, halter, disrupt.Antonymsassist, promote, advance, further, forward; help, aid.

impermeable

im?per?me?a?ble (im p?r"me bl), adj.1. not permeable; impassable.

2. (of porous substances, rocks, etc.) not permitting the passage of a fluid.[1690?1700; < LL]im?per'me?a?bil"i?ty, im?per"me?a?ble?ness, n.im?per"me?a?bly, adv.

imperturbable

adjectiveThe usually imperturbable man showed signs of fear: unexcitable, calm,collected, cool, serene, undisturbed, unruffled,dispassionate, unflustered, levelheaded, sedate, composed; unsusceptible,impervious, impassive, unanxious, unfazable;Slang unflappable.Antonyms

perturbable, choleric, touchy.

impervious

adjective1 The firemen wore masks that were impervious to the acrid smoke:impenetrable, impermeable, inaccessible, allowing nopassage to, unapproachable; sealed or closed against; invulnerable.2 The beautiful actress seemed impervious to the usual ravages of age:immune to, protected against; untouched by,unmarked by.3 The stubborn man seemed impervious to reason: unmoved by, unaffectedby, untouched by, invulnerable, closed.Antonyms1 susceptible, vulnerable.2 open, exposed, susceptible, sensitive, liable, prone.

implacable

adjectiveIt was impossible to negotiate with such an implacable enemy:irreconcilable, unappeasable, inexorable, unamenable,inflexible, intractable, unpacifiable, uncompromising, relentless,unrelenting.Antonymsreconcilable, appeasable, yielding, lenient, relenting, forbearing, indulgent,tolerant, flexible.

implicit

adjective1 Victory was implicit in the early election returns: implied, hinted,suggested, tacitly expressed; inferred, deducible,understood.2 The crew had implicit faith in the captain's judgment: innate, inherent,unquestioning, absolute, complete,profound, certain, resolute, unshakable, unreserved, total, unshakable,steadfast, staunch.

implode im?plode (im plod"), v., -plod?ed, -plod?ing.

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v.i.1. to burst inward (opposed to explode).v.t.2. to pronounce (a consonant) with implosion.[1880?85; IM-1 + (EX)PLODE]

inadvertent

adjectiveThe newspaper apologized for the inadvertent omission: unintentional,unintended, not on purpose, accidental, fortuitous,unmeant, unthinking, involuntary, unpremeditated.Antonymsdeliberate, premeditated, intentional, studied, considered, conscious, aware

inchoate

adjectiveThe architect began with a vague, inchoate design and then worked out thedetails: beginning, budding, incipient,commencing, embryonic, nascent; shapeless, formless, unformed,unshaped, amorphous; unorganized, uncohesive,

disjointed, disconnected.Antonymsformed, shaped; finished, completed.

incongruous

adjective1 Bathing suits look incongruous on a ski slope: inappropriate, odd,outlandish, out of keeping, out of place, unsuitable, notharmonious, Slang far-out.2 The witness's incongruous testimony damaged his credibility: conflicting,contrary, at variance, incompatible,contradictory, inconsistent, irreconcilable, discrepant, disagreeing.Antonyms1 congruous, fitting, suitable, appropriate, consonant, consistent, accordant,agreeing, harmonious, becoming.

inconsequential

adjectiveThe matter is too inconsequential to worry about: trivial, trifling, of nomoment, valueless, slight, unimportant, of noconsequence, insignificant, negligible, nugatory, meaningless, piddling,petty, picayune.Antonymsconsequential, important, momentous, significant, meaningful, crucial.

incorporate

verbThe committee incorporated the investigator's findings in its report:include, embody, work in, consolidate, fuse,amalgamate, introduce into, assimilate.

indeterminate adjectiveThe acting superintendent will serve for an indeterminate time:unspecified, undetermined, unstipulated, uncertain, unfixedin extent or amount, unclear, obscure, not clear, unresolved, vague,undefined; ambiguous, problematic, perplexing,indefinite.

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Antonymsspecified, precise, definite, clear, certain, determined, fixed, defined.

indigent

adjectiveMany indigent people receive government aid: needy, destitute, in want,lacking the necessities of life, poor, in need,

pinched, poverty-stricken, impoverished, penniless, without resources,badly off, moneyless, without food and clothing;Informal unable to keep the wolf from the door, hard-up.Antonymswealthy, moneyed, rich, affluent, comfortable, solvent, flush.

indolent

adjectiveThe indolent boy was fired: lazy, slothful, habitually idle, inactive,easygoing, shiftless, slack, sluggish, inert, lethargic, donothing,listless, lumpish, lackadaisical, dawdling, dilatory.Antonymsindustrious; busy, diligent, conscientious, assiduous, sedulous; energetic,

strenuous, vigorous, active.

inert

adjectiveThe man was so inert he seemed dead: motionless, static, immobile,stationary, inactive, quiescent, still, passive, inanimate,impassive; listless, phlegmatic, sluggish, dull, numb, leaden, supine, slack,torpid, languid.Antonymsdynamic; animated; active, alert, kinetic, brisk, lively, energetic, vigorous.

ingenuous

adjectiveShe was so charming and ingenuous most people adored her at once:natural, artless, guileless, unaffected, genuine,simplehearted, openhearted, honest, open, unsophisticated, frank, direct,trusting, straightforward; Slang up front, straightshooting.Antonymsworldly-wise, jaded, disingenuous; wily, devious, tricky.

inherent

adjectiveFreedom of religion is an inherent part of the Bill of Rights: essential,innate, inseparable, hereditary, native, intrinsic, inborn,deep-rooted, inveterate, natural, inbred, ingrained, constitutional,inalienable.Antonymsforeign, alien, extrinsic, adventitious; subsidiary, superficial, supplemental.

innocuous adjective1 The women exchanged innocuous gossip over lunch: harmless, notdamaging, painless, not injurious, innocent, mild,inoffensive.2 The play was innocuous and quickly forgotten: meaningless, vapid,insipid, dull, pointless, empty, barren; trite, banal,commonplace.Antonyms

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1 hurtful, deleterious, harmful, insidious, obnoxious, damaging, injurious,offensive, malicious.2 powerful, trenchant, compelling, impressive.

insensibility

noun1 The patient lapsed into insensibility: unconsciousness.

2 His insensibility to criticism was legendary: indifference, apathy,insusceptibility.Antonyms consciousness; concern, sensibility.

insinuate

verb1 The article insinuated that the fighter was bribed: imply, suggest, hintslyly, allude remotely to, intimate, asperse, whisper,let fall.2 The social climber insinuated herself into the group: ingratiate, pushartfully, worm one's way, gently incorporate, introducesubtly, wheedle, inject, insert.Antonyms

1 deny.2 withdraw, remove, retreat; alienate.

insipid

adjective1 An insipid play like that won't last two weeks: uninteresting, pointless,stupid, dull, characterless, banal, wearisome, bland,boring, trite, vapid, inane, barren, drab, prosaic, jejune, lifeless, zestless,arid, monotonous, lean, empty, commonplace;Slang blah, wishy-washy, namby-pamby.2 The unsalted vegetables were insipid: flat, tasteless, savorless, stale,vapid, unappetizing.Antonyms1 interesting, zestful, pungent, spirited, spunky, provocative, engaging,lively, stimulating, exciting, piquant, colorful.2 pungent, piquant, spicy; fiery, peppery, gingery; savory, flavorful, tasty,palatable, appetizing; gusty.

insularity

(state of being insulated) insulateverbThick walls insulated the house: shield, protect, cocoon, cushion, line,wrap; isolate, keep apart, seclude, sequester,separate.

intractable

adjectiveThe intractable child refused to obey: stubborn, perverse, headstrong,ornery, hard to cope with, obstinate, willful,unmanageable, obdurate, incorrigible, mulish, unruly, fractious, froward,refractory, ungovernable, uncontrollable,contumacious, unmalleable, inflexible.Antonymstractable, obedient, docile, submissive, subdued; compliant, acquiescent,amiable.

intransigent adjective

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The intransigent strikers refused to negotiate: uncompromising, stubborn,intractable, obdurate, iron-willed, steadfast,diehard, unyielding, unmovable, unbudgeable, inflexible.Antonymscompromising, yielding, flexible, open-minded, acquiescent, compliant

inundate

verb1 Floodwaters inundated the valley: engulf, overflow, fill with water,overspread, drench, submerge, flood, deluge, drown.2 The visiting astronaut was inundated with invitations: swamp, glut, flood,saturate, overcome; load down, overburden,overwhelm.Antonyms1 drain dry, reclaim, desiccate, parch, empty.

inure

verbGrowing up in Alaska inured him to cold weather: accustom, habituate,familiarize, make used to, naturalize, custom;

harden, strengthen, toughen, season, temper, desensitize, discipline, train,adapt, acclimatize, acclimate, get used to.

invective

nounInvective poured from the speaker's mouth: bitter language, harsh words,verbal abuse, venom, vilification, insult,contumely, diatribe, execration, sarcasm; vituperation, denunciation,revilement, censure, rant, railing, billingsgate.Antonymspraise, honor, commendation.

irascible

adjectiveThe irascible old man is constantly picking fights: easily angered, touchy,cantankerous, choleric, waspish, bad-tempered,ill-humored, hot-tempered, irritable, intractable, ornery, splenetic, cross,testy, cranky, grumpy, grouchy, peevish.Antonymsgood-natured, amiable, gentle, mild, placid, serene, tranquil, easygoing.

irresolute

adjectiveHis irresolute nature made him a poor executive: indecisive, wavering,hesitating, hesitant, faltering, unsettled, doubtful,undecided, uncertain, unsure, changeable, vacillating, fickle, weak,unsteady, unresolved.Antonymsresolute, determined, unwavering, decisive; decided, certain.

itinerary

noun1 Leave an itinerary so we can reach you: travel plan, schedule, detailedplan for a trip, list of places to be visited, timetable,course, route, circuit.2 Father kept a lively itinerary of the trip: log, record of a journey, travelrecord, journal, account, diary, day book.

laconic adjective

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Although his speeches were laconic, they were informative: short, concise,brief, succinct, terse, compact, condensed, pithy,concentrated, sparing of words, pointed, to the point, summary; curt, blunt.Antonymsvoluble, wordy, loquacious, garrulous, verbose.

lassitude

nounHis lassitude was caused by overwork: weariness, weakness, debility,sluggishness, fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion, fatigue,lack of energy, enervation, lethargy, listlessness, inertia, feebleness,indolence, faintness, torpor, torpidity, drowsiness,languor, languidness, supineness, prostration, dullness, droopiness; apathy,indifference, ennui, doldrums, boredom;malaise.Antonymsvigor, energy, strength, robustness, freshness; verve, spirit, vitality;Informal get-up-and-go, push, vim, pep.

latent

adjectiveMany of our deepest desires remain latent: dormant, sleeping, quiescent,inactive, passive, suspended, in abeyance,abeyant, potential, undeveloped, unrealized, unaroused, not manifest,hidden, concealed, covert, lurking, intangible,unapparent, unexposed, inconspic-uous, unexpressed.Antonymsactivated, realized, developed; manifest, expressed, apparent, evident,obvious, conspicuous.

laud

verbThey lauded the brave attempt: praise, extol, applaud, celebrate, esteem,honor.Antonymscensure, condemn, criticize.

lethargic

adjectiveThe hot, humid climate made everyone lethargic: lazy, drowsy, sleepy,soporific, languid, indolent, idle, dull, somnolent,comatose, enervated, debilitated, dispirited, unspirited, torpid, lackluster,sluggish, slothful, indifferent, passive, inert,listless, apathetic.Antonymsenergetic, vigorous, alert, active, responsive, bright, spirited; energized,animated, stimulated.

leveenoun-A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out thesea-dam,dike,dyke.

levity nounThe situation is too grave for levity: frivolity, lightness, lightheartedness,whimsy, lack of earnestness or seriousness,triviality, hilarity, foolishness, silliness, joking, mirth, jocularity, trifling,flippancy, flightiness; pleasantry, fun.

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Antonymsgravity, seriousness, sobriety, earnestness, solemnity, dignity.

log

noun1 The cabin was built of logs: length of tree trunk, timber, part of tree limb;block, stump.

2 The time of departure was entered in the ship's log: logbook; (loosely)daybook, journal, calendar, diary, docket, schedule,account, record.verb3 The college student spent his summers logging in the north woods: cuttimber, fell trees, work as a lumberjack, lumber.

loquacious

adjectiveHe's so loquacious I can't get a word in edgewise: talkative, talky, prolix,garrulous, wordy, verbose, voluble, windy, longwinded;prating, chatty, chattery, chattering, babbling, prattling; Informal gabby,blabby.

Antonymssilent, reserved, taciturn, closemouthed, uncommunicative, reticent.

lucid

adjective1 A lucid sky portended a fine day: shining, bright, clear, transparent,crystalline, brilliant, resplendent, radiant, lustrous,luminous, scintillating, sparkling, dazzling; pellucid; illuminated.2 The witness gave a lucid account of what happened: clear, easilyunderstood, crystal clear, intelligible, understandable,articulate, comprehensible; precise, direct, straightforward, accurate,specific, well-organized, to the point, apposite,positive, certain.3 Although usually in a delirium, the patient has some lucid moments:clearheaded, clear thinking, normal, rational;responsive, perceptive.Antonyms1 dark, darkling, gloomy, dusky, obscure, opaque, turgid, muddy, murky;overcast.2 unintelligible, incomprehensible, vague, indistinct, unclear, ambiguous,equivocal, garbled, mystifying.3 confused, muddled, irrational; unresponsive, unperceptive.

luminous

adjectiveThe watch has a luminous dial: reflecting light, luminescent, radiant,irradiated, glowing, lustrous, illuminated, shining;shining in the dark; bright, brilliant.

magnanimous adjectiveOnly a truly magnanimous man could forgive such an insult: forgiving,free of vindictiveness, generous, largehearted, liberal;charitable, beneficent, philanthropic, altruistic, unselfish, princely.Antonymsunforgiving, vindictive, resentful, small, petty, selfish; parsimonious,

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miserly.

malinger

verbIn the army he would malinger by pretending to be ill: slack, shirk,procrastinate, loaf, dodge, evade, duck one's duty, liedown on the job; Slang goldbrick, goof off.

malleable

adjective1 Tin is a malleable metal: workable, easily shaped, easily wrought;ductile, tractable, plastic, pliant, flexible.2 Since young children are malleable, one must be careful what one says infront of them: impressionable, easily influenced,moldable, tractable, teachable, manageable, governable, docile; adaptable,flexible, pliable, compliant.Antonyms1 rigid, stiff, hard, firm; unyielding, inflexible, unbending, inelastic.2 refractory, intractable, recalcitrant, ungovernable.

maverick

noun

1 The cowboys rounded up the mavericks for branding: unbranded calf,yearling; unbranded cow; motherless calf.2 The young senator was regarded as a political maverick: noncomformist,eccentric, independent, individualist, loner,independent thinker, one's own man; dissenter, dissident.

mendacious

adjectiveThe mendacious retailer misled us: lying, untrue, false, untruthful,deceitful.Antonymstruthful, honest.

metamorphosis

noun1 There are four stages in the metamorphosis of a mosquito:transformation, change of form, mutation, transmutation,structural evolution, transfiguration, series of changes, modification,conversion, transmogrification.2 This once-confident man underwent a complete metamorphosis after hisbusiness failure: change in appearance orbehavior, personality change, transformation, alteration, radical change,startling change, permutation.

meticulous

adjectiveOur meticulous housekeeper never forgets a thing: fastidious, scrupulous,exact, exacting, minutely careful, solicitous aboutdetails, painstaking, precise, nice, finical, finicky, fussy, particular;punctilious, perfectionist.Antonymscareless, inexact, imprecise, sloppy, negligent.

misanthropic adjectiveHis unhappy childhood fostered his misanthropic personality: antisocial,unfriendly, unsociable, distrustful, unneighborly,inhospitable, morose, unpersonable, cynical, surly, discourteous,

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unaccommodating, unapproachable, unresponsive, cold,distant.Antonymspersonable, amiable, amicable, loving, sociable, cordial; humanitarian;philanthropic, charitable.

mitigate

verbThere's no way to mitigate the effect of that unfavorable report: lessen,relieve, moderate, moderate in severity, alleviate,abate in intensity, palliate, soften, assuage, allay, soothe, placate, weaken,mollify, ameliorate, ease, blunt, reduce, lighten,diminish, temper, extenuate.Antonymsincrease, augment, heighten, enhance, strengthen.

mollify

verbFlowers would not mollify her anger: appease, calm, moderate, placate,quell, still, lessen, mitigate, allay, reduce, palliate,

conciliate, make less violent, decrease, soften, pacify, soothe, tone down,quiet, lighten, temper, abate, ease, assuage,curb, check, dull, lull, blunt.Antonymsexasperate, exacerbate, agitate, stir, increase.

morose

adjectiveI feel very morose after reading that sad story: depressed, low, crestfallen,sad, melancholy, downcast, moody, glum, dour,Informal blue, down in the dumps; saturnine, mopish, gloomy, despondent,mournful, solemn; sullen, sulky, cross, surly,testy, waspish, sour, churlish, grumpy, cranky, ill-tempered, irascible.Antonymscheerful, blithe, happy, good-natured, pleasant, genial, amiable, friendly.

mundane

adjectiveArtists often have trouble with the mundane affairs of life: ordinary,prosaic, commonplace, worldly, terrestrial, earthly, downto-earth, day-to-day, routine, humdrum, everyday, practical, pedestrian, petty.Antonymsheavenly, celestial, ethereal, empyrean, unearthly, unworldly, spiritual.

negate

verbThis year's losses negate last year's profits: nullify, invalidate, void,reverse; quash, squash, quell, squelch; vanquish,defeat, overthrow, overwhelm, destroy, wipe out, blot out; deny, abrogate,revoke, gainsay, retract, disavow; rebut, refute,contradict; disallow, set aside; veto, repeal; disown, disclaim, repudiate.Antonymsaffirm, confirm, attest to, ratify, endorse, corroborate, reinforce, support.

neophyte nounThe neophyte learned the ropes very fast: beginner, tyro, apprentice,trainee, novice, probationer, newcomer, recruit,

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learner; tenderfoot, rookie, greenhorn, student, pupil; convert, proselyte,entrant, disciple, no-vitiate.Antonymsveteran, old hand, expert.

obdurate

adjective

1 The child was obdurate in refusing to eat vegetables: stubborn, obstinate,intractable, unyielding, inflexible, adamant,immovable, willful, headstrong, pigheaded, mulish, bullheaded;unmanageable, uncontrollable, ungovernable.2 The tyrant was obdurate in his treatment of prisoners: unmoved,uncaring, unfeeling, harsh, merciless, unmerciful,unpitying, pitiless, unsympathetic, uncompassionate, unsparing, untouched;hardened, callous, cruel, cold-blooded,hardhearted.Antonyms1 obedient, agreeable, compliant, flexible, amenable; manageable, docile,

tractable.2 compassionate, sympathetic, caring, feeling, merciful, pitying, relenting,softhearted, kind, gentle, tender.

obsequious

adjectiveThe boss prefers obsequious underlings: servile, fawning, toadying,sycophantic, subservient, menial, ingratiating,deferential, slavish, cringing, cowering, mealymouthed, truckling, Slangbootlicking, kowtowing, apple-polishing.Antonymsdomineering, overbearing, swaggering, lordly, imperious, proud, haughty,arrogant, impudent, brash, bold, assertive,forceful, aggressive.

obviate

verbThe suspect's confession obviates the necessity for a trial: avert, avoid,make unnecessary, circumvent, remove, do awaywith, preclude, prevent; forestall, divert, parry, sidetrack, ward off, turnaside, stave off, fend off, Informal nip in the bud.Antonymsnecessitate, require, make essential, oblige, impel, cause, makeunavoidable.

occlude

verbWaste materials seem to be occluding the drain: obstruct, block, clog, shutoff, shut up, choke, choke off, plug, close,barricade, congest, stopper, stop up, constrict, strangulate.Antonymsclear, unclog, open, ream, unplug.

officious adjectiveIt's hard to be an office manager without being officious: obtrusive,intrusive, interfering, meddlesome, meddling, prying,poking one's nose in, offering gratuitous advice or services, Informal

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kibitzing; overbearing, domineering, self-important,self-assertive, high-handed, high and mighty; pompous, patronizing.Antonymsunobtrusive, in the background.

onerous

adjective

Holding down two jobs can be an onerous task: oppressive, burdensome,hard to endure, arduous, not easy to bear,distressing, painful, wearisome, taxing, exhausting, crushing, heavy,weighty, demanding, grievous.Antonymseasy, light, simple, effortless, trivial, trifling.

opprobrious

adjective1 The editorial made an opprobrious attack on modern morals: damning,denunciatory, condemnatory, hypercritical,censorious, faultfinding; abusive, scurrilous, acrimonious, malicious,malevolent, maligning, vilifying, vitriolic, fulminating,

reviling.2 The officer was reprimanded for his opprobrious conduct: disgraceful,dishonorable, shameful, disreputable, objectionable,unbecoming, deplorable, reprehensible, base, outrageous, shocking,scandalous, infamous, nefarious, despicable, corrupt,wicked.Antonyms1 complimentary, flattering, approving, praising, laudatory, uncritical.2 honorable, noble, meritorious, upright, ethical, principled, virtuous,moral; becoming, praiseworthy, worthy, laudable,noteworthy, estimable.

oscillate

verb1 The clock's pendulum caught the sunlight as it oscillated: swing,alternate, librate; pulsate, vibrate, pulse, move back andforth, seesaw, come and go, ebb and flow.2 He's been oscillating between liberal and conservative all his life: waver,vacillate, hesitate, fluctuate, vary, hem and haw,shilly-shally, change, equivocate.

ostentatious

adjectiveGrandfather warned us not to be ostentatious with our money. The dress istoo ostentatious to wear to a reception: flauntingwealth, fond of display, showing off, pompous, immodest, grandiose,affected, high-flown; conspicuous, pretentious,flamboyant, flashy, showy, gaudy, garish, loud, florid, overdone,exaggerated, obtrusive.Antonymsmodest, reserved, conservative, somber, sedate; inconspicuous, simple,plain.

paragon nounAunt Sue has always been a paragon of virtue: model, example, exemplar,

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prototype, archetype, paradigm, apotheosis,idea, symbol, pattern, standard, norm, criterion, yardstick.

partisan

noun1 The hometown partisans cheered the local team: supporter, follower,adherent, sympathizer, champion, advocate, ally,

backer, upholder, enthusiast, fan, zealot, devotee, rooter, booster.2 Even after the country was defeated, partisans fought the invaders in thehills: freedom fighter, guerrilla, irregular,insurgent; (U.S. Civil War) bushwacker, jayhawker.adjective3 The senator vowed not to engage in partisan politics: favoring onepolitical party, predisposed toward one group, favoringa cause, partial, biased, prejudiced, one-sided, slanted, unbalanced,subjective.Antonyms1 detractor, defamer, censor, critic, backbiter, knocker; opponent, foe,

adversary, rival, contender.3 nonpartisan, bipartisan, unbiased, impartial, unprejudiced, disinterested,objective, broad-minded, open-minded.

pathological

path?o?log?i?cal (path' loj"i kl) also path'o?log"ic, adj.1. of or pertaining to pathology.2. caused or affected by disease.3. characterized by an unhealthy compulsion: a pathological liar.[1680?90] path'o?log"i?cal?ly, adv.

paucity

nounThere was a paucity of information on the reported invasion: scarcity,dearth, lack, shortage, scarceness, scantiness,deficiency, poverty, sparsity, meagerness, puniness, thinness, poorness,insufficiency.Antonymssurfeit, overflow, excess, surplus, superabundance.

pedantic

adjectiveWhen you ask him a question you get a pedantic answer: ostentatiouslylearned, pompous, academic, scholastic, didactic,doctrinaire, bookish, stilted, dogmatic, punctilious, hairsplitting, nitpicking,overly meticulous, fussy, finicky, overparticular.Antonymssuccinct, pithy, straightforward; vague; general, comprehensive

penchant

nounThe fat youth had a penchant for rich desserts: fondness, partiality, liking,strong inclination, fancy, preference, predilection,proclivity, propensity, leaning, attraction, taste, relish, tendency, affinity,predisposition, disposition, proneness, prejudice,bias; flair, bent, readiness, turn, knack, gift.Antonymshatred, dislike, loathing, aversion, abhorrence, disinclination, repulsion.

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penury

nounShe lived in penury during her last years: poverty, impoverishment, want,indi-gence, need, privation, destitution, straitenedcircumstances, dire necessity; financial ruin, insolvency, bankruptcy.Antonyms

wealth, prosperity, opulence, luxury, elegance, abundance, affluence.

perennial

adjectiveHe sat there with that perennial grin on his face: perpetual, everlasting,permanent, constant, incessant, unceasing,ceaseless, continual, continuous, unremitting, persistent; fixed, changeless,unchanging, immutable, durable, imperishable,indestructible, lasting, enduring, long-lasting, undying, timeless, unfailing,long-lived.Antonymstemporary, occasional, sporadic, intermittent, periodic, evanescent;perishable, transient, fleeting, ephemeral, temporal.

perfidious

adjectiveBenedict Arnold's perfidious act made him his country's first traitor:treacherous, traitorous, treasonous, deceitful, false,disloyal, unfaithful, faithless, treasonable, dishonorable, untrustworthy,unscrupulous; dishonest, corrupt, untruthful,undependable, lying, cheating; Informal sneaky, double-dealing, shifty,two-faced.

perfunctory

adjectiveThat was certainly a perfunctory "hello" he gave us: indifferent, casual,disinterested, offhand, careless, unconcerned,unthinking, cursory, inattentive, lax, hasty, superficial, routine, mechanical,halfhearted, lukewarm, apathetic, spiritless,listless, passionless; negligent.Antonymscareful, thorough, thoughtful, diligent, assiduous, attentive, warmhearted,effusive, spirited, ardent, keen, zealous.

permeableper"me?a?ble?ness, n.per"me?a?bly, adv.

pervasive

adjectiveIll feeling was pervasive at the plant: pervading, prevalent, permeating,widespread, common, extensive, general,omnipresent, ubiquitous, universal, inescapable.

phlegmatic adjectiveAdmiral Togo was always phlegmatic in the face of danger: indifferent,apathetic, nonchalant, unemotional, unimpassioned,undemonstrative, unresponsive, imperturbable, unconcerned, unexcitable,cool, calm, serene, tranquil, impassive, stoical;spiritless, listless, languid, lethargic, sluggish, dull, passive, unfeeling,insensitive.Antonyms

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emotional, passionate, excited; active, demonstrative, alert, lively,animated, energetic, interested.

piety

nounThe old woman expressed her piety by attending church daily: piousness,religiousness, devoutness, de