GRE HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS

3. Abate

Verb

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

2.Aberrant

Adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 direct.

2 normal.

3. Abeyance

Noun

The 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, waiting period, in a holding pattern; in cold
storage, on ice, on a back burner.

—Antonyms

Continuance, continuation, continuity, ceaselessness.

4. abstemious

adjective

His abstemious habits allowed him few pleasures: abstinent, ascetic, austere, temperate,
continent, nonindulgent, teetotal, self-denying, sparing, self-disciplined, abstentious.

—Antonyms

self-indulgent, abandoned, undisciplined, uncontrolled, hedonistic, profligate, licentious,

unrestrained, immoderate.
5. admonish

verb

1 The captain admonished the guards to be on the alert: warn, caution, put on guard, tip off;
advise, counsel, enjoin.

2 The preacher admonished his congregation for failure to attend weekly services: reprove,
censure, reprimand, rebuke, reproach, remonstrate, chide, chasten, scold, upbraid, criticize, take
to task, call to account, rap on the knuckles.

—Antonyms

2 praise, compliment, commend.

6. adulterate

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

7. esthetic or aesthetic

adjective

The course in art history is designed to develop the student's esthetic judgment: appreciative of
beauty, appealing to artistic taste, having artistic tastes, artistic; sensitive, discriminating,
cultivated, refined, fastidious.

—Antonyms

unesthetic, unappreciative; insensitive, undiscriminating.

8. aggregate

noun

The final plan was an aggregate of all our ideas: composite, compound, union, combination,
gathering, accumulation, collection, amassing, bringing together, summation, mixture, mix, blend,
mass, conglomeration, conglomerate.

9. Alacrity

noun

1 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.
—Antonyms

1 unwillingness, indifference, unconcern, apathy, impassiveness, reluctance, disinclination;

languor, lethargy, dullness.
2 slowness, sluggishness.

10.alleviate
verb

This 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.

—Antonyms

make worse, aggravate, increase, intensify, heighten, enhance, magnify, multiply.

11. amalgamate

verb

Silver must be amalgamated with a harder material to make durable jewelry. The two shipping
companies amalgamated into one: combine, blend, merge, fuse, mix, commingle; unite, unify, join
together, consolidate, coalesce, incorporate, federate, integrate, synthesize.

—Antonyms

separate, part, divide, disunite.

12. ambiguous

adjective

"Indian" is an ambiguous word because it can refer to an American Indian or a native of India:
equivocal, vague, unclear, cryptic, enigmatic, puzzling, indefinite, uncertain, doubtful; misleading,
having a double meaning.

—Antonyms

explicit, definite, specific, direct, conclusive; clear, plain, frank, unmistakable, obvious, simple,
lucid; unquestionable, honest.

13.ambivalent

adjective

I have ambivalent thoughts on where to spend my vacation: contradictory, conflicting, opposing,

clashing, warring; confused, undecided, unfocused, mixed, wavering, fluctuating, vacillating,
Informal wishy-washy.

—Antonyms
definite, positive; unwavering.

14. ameliorate

verb

1 The council met to consider ways of ameliorating the foreign situation: 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.

—Antonyms

1 ruin, botch, queer, screw up, wreck, destroy.

2 deteriorate, go downhill, decline, weaken, worsen.

15. Anachronism

a•nach•ro•nism (* nak"r* niz'*m), n.

1. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a 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 anachronismós a wrong time reference = anachron(ízein) to

make a wrong time reference (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.

16. analogous

adjective

The heart is analogous to a pump: similar, like, comparable, akin, equivalent, parallel, correlative,
corresponding.

—Antonyms

dissimilar, unlike; different, divergent

17.Anarchy
Noun

1 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 be completely free: utopia,
the millennium.

—Antonyms

1 order, discipline, authority; government, organization, control; regimentation, subjection.

18.Anomalous

Adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 common, usual, standard, typical, familiar, unexceptional, ordinary, natural, normal, regular,
conventional, customary.

2 normal, typical.

19.Antipathy

Noun

I try to be broadminded but do feel antipathy toward people who are dirty and unkempt: dislike,
aversion, distaste; disgust, repulsion, loathing, repugnance, abhorrence; antagonism, animosity,
ill will, enmity, rancor, hostility, unfriendliness.

—Antonyms

affinity, fellow feeling, regard, sympathy, attraction, partiality; love, affection, attachment.

20.Apathy

Noun

Public apathy can lead to bad government: indifference, unconcern, lack of interest, inattention,
unresponsiveness, passiveness, lethargy, lassitude; lack of feeling, numbness, emotionlessness,
coolness, impassibility, impassivity.

—Antonyms

Concern, interest, attention, responsiveness, action; emotion, feeling, excitement, passion, zeal,
vehemence, enthusiasm, fervor.

21.Appease

Verb

1 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.

—Antonyms

1,2,3 aggravate, provoke, inflame, arouse.

1 disturb, upset, bother, annoy, dissatisfy, perturb.

3 anger, enrage, infuriate; antagonize, Informal cross

22.Apprise

Verb

Police should apprise an arrested person of his or her rights to remain silent and to be
represented by a lawyer: inform, notify, advise, tell, make acquainted, make aware, make
cognizant of, disclose, enlighten.

—Antonyms

Keep secret, keep quiet about.

23.Approbation

Noun

The 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.

—Antonyms

Censure, condemnation, criticism; disapproval, dissatisfaction, protest, rejection, veto.

24.Appropriate

Adjective

1 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

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 possession of, take, confiscate,
expropriate.
—Antonyms

1 inappropriate, improper, ill-suited, unsuitable, unsuited, unfitting, incongruous, unbefitting,

unseemly, incorrect, wrong, inconsonant, incompatible, outré; uncharacteristic, out of place,
inopportune, irrelevant.

2 withhold.

3 give, bestow, donate; relinquish, cede, dispose of.

25.Arduous

Adjective

Crossing 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.

—Antonyms

Light, facile, easy, simple, effortless, smooth.

26.Artless

Adjective

1 Her love was as artless as a child's: frank, candid, open, honest, true, guileless, innocent,
naïve, simple, humble, straightforward; sincere, unpretentious, trusting, undesigning, open-
hearted, ingenuous, unsophisticated, unaffected, unself-conscious.

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; without artistic talent, untalented.

—Antonyms

1 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.

27.Ascetic

Noun

1 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.

Adjective

2 Trappist monks lead an ascetic existence: austere, self-denying, abstemious, strict, stern,
Spartan, rigorous, self-mortifying.

—Antonyms

1 hedonist, sensualist, voluptuary, sybarite, bon vivant.

2 self-indulgent, indulgent, pampered, luxurious, comfortable; abandoned, dissolute, voluptuous,

sensuous, sensual, sybaritic.

28.Assiduous

Adjective

It 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.

—Antonyms

indolent, lazy, idle; haphazard, casual, cavalier, lax, hit-or-miss, undetermined, inconstant, happy-
go-lucky.

29.Assuage

Verb

Liniment will assuage the pain, but soaking in hot water does the injury more 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.

30.attenuate

Verb

1 The silversmith attenuated the ingot into one long thread: draw out, make thin, make fine, make
slender, spin out.

2 Aspirin only attenuated the pain: weaken, reduce, diminish, lessen, decrease; dilute, water
down, adulterate, impair, enervate, enfeeble.

—Antonyms

1 broadens, make thick, make coarse, make fat, enlarge, expand.

2 increase, amplify, intensify, augment, strengthen, develop.

31.Audacious

Adjective

1 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, death-defying, 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.

—Antonyms

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

Adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 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.

33. Autonomous
Adjective

The school of adult education was an autonomous extension of the university: self-governing,
self-determined; self-sufficient, self-reliant, independent, sovereign, free.

—Antonyms

Governed, dependent, subject.

34.Aver
Verb

The 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.

—Antonyms

Deny, disavow, disclaim, repudiate; doubt, be uncertain, gainsay.

35.Banal

Adjective

There 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, cliché-
ridden, vapid, platitudinous, bromidic, jejune.

—Antonyms

Original, new, novel, unique, exciting, fresh, unusual, extraordinary, innovative, distinctive,
stimulating, stimulative, gripping, provocative, challenging, imaginative, interesting.

36.Belie

Verb

1 The facts belie your story: disprove, refute, contradict, controvert, 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.

37.Beneficent

Adj. doing good or causing good to be done; charitable.

1.Beneficial

Adjective

Exercise is beneficial to good health: helpful, advantageous, propitious, useful, valuable,

contributive, favorable, profitable, productive; healthful, healing, good for.

—Antonyms

Useless, detrimental, detractive, disadvantageous; unfavorable, harmful, pernicious,

unwholesome.

38.Bolster

Verb

1 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.

Noun

3 Put the bolster on the couch: cushion, pillow.

—Antonyms

1 weighs down.

2 diminish, lessen, weaken, tear down.

39.Bombastic

Adjective

No one believed his bombastic claims: grandiloquent, pompous, windy, padded, inflated,
magniloquent, tumid, turgid, verbose, wordy.

—Antonyms

Temperate, unpretentious, modest, natural, simple, unaffected, deflated, quiet.

40.Boorish

Adjective

She considers the peasants boorish: crude, rude, coarse, vulgar, unrefined, unpolished, uncouth,
gauche, loutish, oafish, rustic, peasantlike.

—Antonyms

Genteel, polite, polished, cultured, refined, cultivated, gentlemanly, courtly, gallant, lady-like;
sophisticated, urbane, cosmopolitan.

41.Burgeon

Verb

Housing developments are burgeoning on all sides. Spring has begun to burgeon in every valley
and glade: thrive, flourish, expand, enlarge, grow, develop, mushroom, escalate, wax, increase,
spring up, shoot up, proliferate, augment, spread; bloom, blossom, flower, blow, effloresce, open,
fructify, bear fruit.

42.Burnish

Verb

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

—Antonyms
Abrade, scratch, mar.

43.Buttress

Noun

1 The north wall of the cathedral had a beautiful stone buttress: support, brace, prop, stanchion,
abutment, arch, stay, and shoulder.

Verb

2 Buttress that fence with some two-by-fours. You'd better buttress your argument with more
facts: prop, prop up, brace, shore, shore up, reinforce, strengthen, bolster, support, boost, steel.

44.Cacophonous

Adjective

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

45.Capricious

Adjective

The 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.
—Antonyms
Consistent, unchangeable, inflexible, unmovable, firm, fixed, unwavering, invariable, unswerving;
resolute, determined, steadfast, certain, decided, decisive; serious, responsible, steady, stable,
even.

46.Castigate
Verb
The principal castigated the students for their unruly behavior: chastise, upbraid, rebuke, censure,
reprimand, reproach, chasten, reprove, berate, scold, admonish, criticize, chide, call on the
carpet, bawl out, chew out, dress down, haul over the coals, take to task; punish, discipline,
correct, penalize.

—Antonyms
Praise, laud, compliment, honor; reward, encourage.

47. Catalyst
cat•a•lyst (kat"l ist), n.

1. a substance that causes or speeds a chemical reaction without itself being affected.

2. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change.

[1900–05; CATALY(SIS) + (-I)ST]

48.Caustic

Adjective

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.

—Antonyms

1 soothing, healing; bland, mild.

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

49. Chicanery

Noun

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

50.Coagulate
Verb

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

—Antonyms
Liquefy, melt, dissolve, and soften.

51.Coda
1. A concluding passage of a musical composition.

2. A concluding section, esp. one serving as a summation of preceding themes, as in a drama.

3. Anything that serves as a conclusion or summation.

52.Cogent

Adjective

He 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, well-grounded.

—Antonyms

Unconvincing, unsound, dubious, implausible, improbable.

53. Commensurate also commensurable

Adjective

Her salary is commensurate with her ability and experience: in accord, consistent, in agreement,
suitable, fitting, appropriate, compatible, corresponding, proportionate, comparable, on a proper
scale, relative, equal, equivalent, even, balanced, meet, parallel, relative, square.

—Antonyms

Inconsistent, unsuitable, inappropriate, unfitting, incompatible, disproportionate, dissimilar,

incomparable, unequal, discordant.

54. Compendium

Noun

It was fascinating to browse through the compendium of quotations: digest, abridgment,

condensation, abstract, brief, epitome, overview, précis, summary.

55.Complaisant

Adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms
Unobliging, contrary, unsolicitous, uncooperative, indifferent; disagreeable, unpleasant, cold,
unfriendly, ungracious.

56.Compliance
Noun

Compliance with the traffic laws is necessary for safe driving. Yes-men are known for their
compliance: conformity, conforming, obedience, yielding, giving in, submission, deference;
assent, acquiescence, complaisance, pliancy, nonresistance, passivity, docility, meekness.

—Antonyms

noncompliance, nonconformity, disobedience, resistance, rebelliousness, assertiveness,

individuality, stubbornness; obstinacy.

57.Conciliatory

Adjective

One conciliatory remark would make them friends again: peacemaking, reconciling, friendly,
reassuring, placatory, pacifying, mollifying, accommodative, appeasing.

—Antonyms

Antagonistic, hostile, unfriendly, unforgiving.

58. Condone

Verb
Parents must not condone their children's bad behavior: overlook, let pass, ignore, disregard, put
up with, wink at; forgive, excuse, pardon, justify, absolve, forget.

—Antonyms

Condemn, denounce, censure, disapprove; punish, castigate.

59. Confound

Verb

The 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.

—Antonyms

Enlighten, explain, solve, clear up, clarify.

60. Connoisseur

Noun

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

61. Contention

Noun

1 Border raiding led to even more contention: struggle, strife, conflict, combat, altercation, feud,
wrangle, rivalry, contest; argument, debate, dispute, disagreement, controversy, dispute,
dissension, falling out, opposition, discord.

2 It was his contention that she was lazy: allegation, charge, assertion, claim, position, point.

—Antonyms

1 peace; accord, agreement.

62.Contentious

Contentious (k*n ten"sh*s), adj.

4. tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome: a contentious crew.

5. causing, involving, or characterized by argument or controversy: contentious issues.

6. pertaining to causes between contending parties involved in litigation.

con•ten"tious•ly, adv.

con•ten"tious•ness, n.
63. Contrite

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

—Antonyms

proud, pleased, uncontrite, unrepentant, unapologetic.

64. Conundrum

Noun

No 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.

65. Converge

Verb

The Mississippi and Missouri rivers converge at St. Louis. A lens converges light rays: come
together, meet, approach; focus, concentrate, bring together.

—Antonyms

Diverge, separate, part, scatter, disperse.

66. Convolution

Noun

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

—Antonyms

Uncoiling, unwinding.

67. Craven

Adjective

Refusing 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.

—Antonyms

Brave, courageous, heroic, fearless, valorous, valiant, dauntless; bold, daring, audacious.

68. Daunt
Verb

Crossing 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; frighten, scare, alarm, affright.
—Antonyms

Embolden, encourage, cheer, animate, enliven.

69. Decorum

Noun

Jennifer always acts with decorum: propriety, politeness; tact, gentility, respectability, dignity,
taste; good form.

—Antonyms

Impropriety, inappropriate behavior, bad manners.

70. default

noun

1 If the team doesn't show up, they will lose by default: failure to appear or act.

2 His car was repossessed because of default of the monthly installment: nonpayment; failure to
pay.

71. Deference

Noun

Out of deference to her age and position, the committee followed her suggestions: consideration,
respect, reverence, honor, esteem, regard; obedience, capitulation.

—Antonyms

Disrespect, contempt; defiance, disobedience.

72.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 (-* b*l), adj.

de•lin"e•a'tor, n.

73. Denigrate

Verb

He 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 in the back, badmouth, dump on.
—Antonyms

Praise, commend, acclaim, exalt, boost.

75. Deride

Verb

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

76. Derivative

Adjective

1 The derivative essay received low marks: derived, unoriginal, borrowed, copied, evolved,
imitative, inferred, not original, obtained, plagiarized, rehashed, secondhand.

Noun

2 offshoot, outgrowth, byproduct, derivation, descendant, product, spinoff.

—Antonyms

1 original, archetypal, authentic, genuine, seminal.

77. Desiccate
des•ic•cate (des"i kat'), v., -cat•ed, -cat•ing.

v.t.

1. to dry thoroughly; dry up.

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. of siccus dry]

des'ic•ca"tion, n.

des"ic•ca'tive, adj.

des"ic•ca'tor, n.

78. Desultory
des•ul•to•ry (des"*l tôr'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 desultory remark.

[1575–85; < L desultorius pertaining to a desultor (a circus rider who jumps 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.

78.deterrent

Noun

Punishment is not necessarily a deterrent to crime: restraint, curb, hindrance, check,

discouragement.

79. Diatribe

Noun

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

80. 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: a dichotomy 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 is visible.

[1600–10; < Gk]

81.diffidence

Noun

His diffidence keeps him from making friends: timidity, timidness, timorousness, shyness,
meekness, insecurity, retiring disposition, reserve, constraint, introversion; bashfulness, extreme
modesty, humbleness, want of self-confidence, unassertiveness, sheepishness, lack of self-
assurance; hesitancy, reluctance.

—Antonyms

Boldness, audaciousness, forwardness, assertiveness, aggressiveness; self-confidence,

confidence.

82.Diffuse
Adjective

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

—Antonyms

1 concentrated.

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

83.Digression

Noun

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

84.dirge

Noun

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

85. Disabuse

Verb

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

86. Discerning

Adjective

The 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, sharp-sighted; showing discernment, quick to
discern, having keen insight.
—Antonyms
Undiscerning, unperceptive, indiscriminate.

87.discordant
dis•cord•ant (dis kôr"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.

88. discredit

verb

1 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 through the 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.

Antonyms

1 credit, praise, laud.

2 credit, prove, support, accept, verify.

89. discrepancy

noun

There 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.

90.Discrete

Adjective

The Liberal Arts College has been reorganized into six discrete departments: separate, distinct,
different, detached, disconnected, discontinuous, disjunctive, unattached, independent,
unassociated; several, various.

—Antonyms

Merged, combined, interdependent, united, linked, connected.

91.disingenuous

Adjective

Their disingenuous protests irritated us: dishonest, insincere, artful, cunning, designing,
duplicitous, false, feigned, guileful, shifty, sly, wily, two-faced, tricky.

—Antonyms

Ingenuous.

92. Disinterested

Adjective

We need a disinterested party to settle the argument: impartial, unbiased, neutral, free from bias,
unprejudiced, impersonal, outside, uninvolved, dispassionate, free from self-interest.

—Antonyms

Partial, biased, prejudiced, selfish, having an axe to grind.

93.Disjointed

Adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 jointed, connected, attached.

2 sensible, coherent, logical.

94. dismiss

verb

1 The workers were dismissed for lunch. Dismiss the meeting: allow to leave, permit to go,
release, excuse, send forth, let go, disperse; dissolve, adjourn, disband; free, liberate.

2 She was dismissed for loafing on the job: fire, oust, discharge from office, 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 aside, repudiate, eliminate.

—Antonyms

1 hold, detain, recall.

2 hire, employ, accept, admit.
3 welcome, accept.

95. Disparage
Verb

Don't disparage his attempts to better himself: belittle, ridicule, discredit, run down, put down,
mock, denigrate, demean, undervalue, underrate, depreciate, slight, detract from, derogate.

—Antonyms

Applaud, praise, laud, extol, acclaim, commend, compliment, appreciate.

96. disparate

adjective

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

—Antonyms

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

97. dissemble

verb

He tried to dissemble his disappointment with a joke: hide, mask, disguise, camouflage, feign,
conceal, dissimulate.

—Antonyms

show, manifest, evidence, reveal.

98. disseminate

verb

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

99.Dissolute

Adjective

He was a dissolute young man who thought only of his own pleasure: dissipated, corrupt, loose,
debauched, immoral; unrestrained, abandoned.

—Antonyms

moral, upright, temperate, sober, prudent, circumspect.

100.Dissonance
Noun

1 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.

101. distend

verb

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

102. distill

verb

1 The liquid distills when heated: evaporate, condense, vaporize.

2 Whiskey is distilled from a fermented mash of grain. Impurities are removed by distilling water:
separate by evaporation, produce by vaporization and condensation, purify by distillation; extract,
draw out, draw forth.

103. diverge

verb

1 The path diverges right after the pond: separate, deviate, split off, swerve, deflect.

2 Her politics and mine diverge greatly: differ, conflict, disagree, be at odds.

—Antonyms

1 converges, agree, concur.

103. divest

verb

1 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.

104. document
noun

1 There are many documents containing the king's signature: official paper, record, instrument,
legal form.

verb

2 The lawyer gathered evidence to document the charges: support, back up, give weight to,
verify, certify, substantiate.

105. dogmatic

adjective

1 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 of the Christian faith:
doctrinal, expressing dogma.

—Antonyms

1 diffident, vacillating, uncertain; docile, complaisant.

106. dormant

adjective

The geyser has been dormant for five years: inactive, quiescent, idle; sleeping, somnolent;
hibernating.

—Antonyms

active, operative, moving, awake.

107. dupe

noun

1 He was the dupe of the racketeers and may go to prison: pawn, patsy, fall guy, cat's paw, Slang
sucker.

verb

2 The agency duped her into signing up for $200 worth of lessons: trick, fool, mislead, deceive;
humbug, bamboozle, hoodwink.

108. ebullience

noun

Her ebullience could not be denied: enthusiasm, exuberance, animation, buoyancy,

effervescence, effusiveness, elation, excitement, exhilaration, vitality, vivaciousness, vivacity,
liveliness, high spirits.

—Antonyms

apathy, lifelessness.

109. eclectic

adjective

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

110. efficacious

adjective

None of the prescriptions were efficacious: effective, capable, successful, serviceable, effectual,
efficient.

—Antonyms

ineffective.

111. effrontery

noun

What effrontery to barge in uninvited!: shamelessness, brazenness, brashness, impertinence,

insolence, impudence, presumption, arrogance, audacity, temerity, cheek, nerve, gall, brass,
Yiddish chutzpah.

—Antonyms

modesty, reserve, shyness, timidity, bashfulness; respect, diffidence.

112. Elegy

Noun

The poet laureate composed an elegy upon the death of the king: poem of lamentation, lament
for the dead, melancholy poem, sad poem; requiem, funeral song, song of lamentation,
melancholy piece of music.

—Antonyms

Paean, jubilee, hallelujah, anthem.

113. elicit

verb

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

—Antonyms
repress, discourage.

114. Embellish

Verb

He 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,
Slang gussy up.

—Antonyms

Simplify, strip bare.

115. empirical

adjective

The old sailor had never studied navigation, but he had a good empirical knowledge of it:
practical, experiential, pragmatic; experimental, firsthand.

—Antonyms

theoretical, secondhand.

116. emulate

verb

Politicians 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.

117.endemic

Noun

7. A disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in people of a certain

class or in people living in a particular location

Adjective

8. (of disease or anything resembling a disease) constantly present to greater or lesser

extent in a particular locality.

9. (ecology) native to or confined to a certain region

10. Originating where it is found

---Synonyms

autochthonal, autochthonic, autochthonous, indigenous.

118. enervate

verb

The long march in the sun enervated the soldiers: exhaust, weary, weaken, de-bilitate, devitalize,
enfeeble, disable, sap one's energy, deplete, wash out, fatigue, tire, prostrate, Slang bush, fag,
tucker.

—Antonyms

energize, invigorate, strengthen, vitalize, stimulate, quicken.

119. engender

verb

Respect can engender love: give rise to, cause, bring about, beget, breed, generate, produce,
occasion, precipitate.

—Antonyms

kill, end, crush.

120. enhance

verb

The splendid dress enhanced her beauty: intensify, heighten, magnify, make more attractive,
make more appealing; elevate, lift, raise, boost; redouble, embellish, augment, add to,
complement.

—Antonyms

diminish, reduce, lessen, decrease, minimize, depreciate, detract from.

121. ephemeral

adjective

There 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.

—Antonyms

permanent, lasting, enduring, everlasting, perpetual, abiding.

122. equanimity

noun

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

—Antonyms
panic, hysteria, disquiet, perturbation, agitation, discomposure.

123. equivocate

verb

Please 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 the fence.

124. erudite

adjective

The professor was an erudite man. The TV newscaster was known for his erudite comments:
learned, well-informed, well-educated, well-versed, literate, well-read, cultured, cultivated,
scholarly, thoughtful, intelligent, well-reasoned, wise, sapient.

—Antonyms

uninformed, uneducated, illiterate, unscholarly; shallow, unthinking; rash, ill-advised.

125. esoteric

adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 obvious, clear, plain, simple.

2 public, open, exoteric.

126. eulogy

Noun

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is a great eulogy: oration of praise, praise of the dead, encomium,
panegyric; high praise, tribute, homage, hosanna, acclamation, laudation, citation, paean, plaudit.

—Antonyms

condemnation, criticism; vilification, defamation, aspersion, calumny, slander, libel.

127. euphemism

noun

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

128. Exacerbate

Verb

Offering 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 to the
flames, rub salt into the wound, add insult to injury.

—Antonyms

relieve, soothe, comfort, alleviate, assuage, mollify.

129.exculpate

Verb

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

130.Exigency

Noun

1 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.

131. 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 or observed range.

3. Math. to estimate (a function that is known over a range of values of its independent 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.

132. facetious
adjective

He kept us laughing with his facetious remarks: humorous, funny, amusing, jocular, joking, jovial,
jesting, witty, clever, jocose, droll, comic, comical, playful, wisecracking.

—Antonyms

solemn, serious, sober, lugubrious, grave, sedate, staid, sad, dull.

133. facilitate

verb

An addressing machine facilitates the handling of bulk mail: expedite, speed up, accelerate, ease,
simplify, help in, make less difficult, make easier, assist the progress of, lessen the labor of,
lighten, smooth; forward, help to advance, promote, further, advance, aid, foster.

—Antonyms

hinder, hamper, complicate, encumber, slow down.

134. Fallacious

Adjective

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

135. Fatuous

Adjective

She'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, senseless, moronic, ridiculous.

—Antonyms

sensible, prudent, judicious, wise, sage, sapient, clever, bright, intelligent, smart, witty

136. 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.

137. Felicitous
Adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 infelicitous, solemn, inappropriate.

2 infelicitous, awkward, clumsy, unfortunate.

138.fervor

Noun

The 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.

—Antonyms

boredom, ennui, apathy, detachment, dispassion.

139. flag

noun

1 The country's flag was displayed in every window: banner, emblem, standard, ensign, streamer,
pennant, colors; (in the U.S.) stars and stripes, Old Glory, stars and bars; (in Great Britain) Union
Jack.

verb

2 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 in vigor, abate, slump, succumb, subside, sag, pall; fade, grow weary, tire,
totter, dodder; faint, sink, ebb, wane, fail.

—Antonyms

3 freshen, recover, brace up.

140. Fledgling

Noun

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

141. Flout
Verb

She flouted convention by wearing black at her wedding: scorn, show contempt 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.

142.foment

verb

He 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, fan the fire, fan into flame, blow the coals.

—Antonyms

Quell, suppress, repress, quench; check, curb, restrain; allay, discourage, destroy, extinguish,
extirpate.

143. forestall

verb

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

144. frugality

noun

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

145. futile

adjective

His 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.

—Antonyms

effective, fruitful, successful; profitable, useful, worthy; important, significant.

146. 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.

147. garrulous

adjective

She'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.

—Antonyms

reticent, taciturn, quiet, reserved, closemouthed; terse, concise.

148. goad

noun

1 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.

verb

3 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.

—Antonyms

2 detriment, curb.

3 deter, keep back, hold back.

149. 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 a vein.

b. fragments of rock that have accumulated between or along the walls of a fault.

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, Welsh gylf beak, Cornish gilb
borer]

goug"er, n.

150. Grandiloquent

Adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

Simple, direct, unaffected, plain-spoken, matter-of-fact, low-keyed; base, lowly.

151. gregarious

adjective

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

—Antonyms

unsociable, solitary, reclusive, introverted, retiring, shy.

152. guileless

adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

sly, cunning, deceitful, crafty, tricky, deceptive, artful; treacherous, fraudulent

153. Gullible
Adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

Cynical, suspicious, untrusting, hard to convince; sophisticated, worldly.

154. 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 a public gathering.

3. any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; 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 to speak in public, v. der. of
aringo public square < Go *hriggs RING1]

syn

See SPEECH.

155. homogeneous

adjective

It was a homogeneous crowd of teenage girls, all wearing jeans and sweaters: of the same kind,
all alike, of a piece; uniform, unmixed, unvarying, unadulterated; consistent, constant, pure; akin,
kindred, similar, identical.

—Antonyms

heterogeneous, mixed, varied, varying, variegated, different, diverse, divers, various, divergent.
156. hyperbole

noun

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

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

—Antonyms

Understatement.

157. iconoclast

noun

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

—Antonyms

conformist, assenter.

158. idolatry

noun

1 Idolatry was commonplace in many early pagan religions: worship of an object, 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, senseless attachment, madness, mania.

159.immutable

Adjective

Platinum 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.

—Antonyms

Changeable, unstable, alterable, flexible, variable.

.160. impair

verb

The 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.

—Antonyms

improve, amend; repair; better, ameliorate, enhance, facilitate, increase.

161. impassive

adjective

The moderator maintained an impassive manner throughout the furious debate: emotionless,
unemotional, unmoved, imperturbable, dispassionate, aloof, stoical, untouched, stony, calm, cool,
sedate, reserved, unperturbed, unimpressible, inscrutable, impervious, stolid, apathetic,
phlegmatic, unimpressionable, insensible, indifferent.

—Antonyms

responsive, emotional, passionate, excited, perturbed.

162. impede

verb

A 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,
deter, hamper, hold back, halter, disrupt.

—Antonyms

assist, promote, advance, further, forward; help, aid.

163. impermeable
im•per•me•a•ble (im pûr"me * b*l), 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.

164. imperturbable

adjective

The 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.

165. impervious

adjective

1 The firemen wore masks that were impervious to the acrid smoke: impenetrable, impermeable,
inaccessible, allowing no passage 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, unaffected by, untouched by,
invulnerable, closed.

—Antonyms

1 susceptible, vulnerable.

2 open, exposed, susceptible, sensitive, liable, prone.

166. implacable

adjective

It was impossible to negotiate with such an implacable enemy: irreconcilable, unappeasable,

inexorable, unamenable, inflexible, intractable, unpacifiable, uncompromising, relentless,
unrelenting.

—Antonyms

reconcilable, appeasable, yielding, lenient, relenting, forbearing, indulgent, tolerant, flexible.

167. implicit

adjective

1 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.

168. implode

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

v.i.

1. to burst inward (opposed to explode).

v.t.

2. to pronounce (a consonant) with implosion.

[1880–85; IM-1 + (EX)PLODE]

169. inadvertent

adjective

The newspaper apologized for the inadvertent omission: unintentional, unintended, not on
purpose, accidental, fortuitous, unmeant, unthinking, involuntary, unpremeditated.

—Antonyms

deliberate, premeditated, intentional, studied, considered, conscious, aware

170. inchoate

adjective

The architect began with a vague, inchoate design and then worked out the details: beginning,
budding, incipient, commencing, embryonic, nascent; shapeless, formless, unformed, unshaped,
amorphous; unorganized, uncohesive, disjointed, disconnected.

—Antonyms

formed, shaped; finished, completed.

171.incongruous

adjective

1 Bathing suits look incongruous on a ski slope: inappropriate, odd, outlandish, out of keeping,
out of place, unsuitable, not harmonious, Slang far-out.

2 The witness's incongruous testimony damaged his credibility: conflicting, contrary, at variance,
incompatible, contradictory, inconsistent, irreconcilable, discrepant, disagreeing.

—Antonyms

1 congruous, fitting, suitable, appropriate, consonant, consistent, accordant, agreeing,

harmonious, becoming.

172. inconsequential

adjective

The matter is too inconsequential to worry about: trivial, trifling, of no moment, valueless, slight,
unimportant, of no consequence, insignificant, negligible, nugatory, meaningless, piddling, petty,
picayune.

—Antonyms
consequential, important, momentous, significant, meaningful, crucial.

173. incorporate

verb

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

174. indeterminate

adjective

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

—Antonyms

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

175. indigent

adjective

Many 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.

—Antonyms

wealthy, moneyed, rich, affluent, comfortable, solvent, flush.

176. indolent

adjective

The indolent boy was fired: lazy, slothful, habitually idle, inactive, easygoing, shiftless, slack,
sluggish, inert, lethargic, do-nothing, listless, lumpish, lackadaisical, dawdling, dilatory.

—Antonyms

industrious; busy, diligent, conscientious, assiduous, sedulous; energetic, strenuous, vigorous,

active.

177. inert

adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

dynamic; animated; active, alert, kinetic, brisk, lively, energetic, vigorous.

178. ingenuous

adjective

She 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, straight-shooting.

—Antonyms

worldly-wise, jaded, disingenuous; wily, devious, tricky.

179. inherent

adjective

Freedom 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.

—Antonyms

foreign, alien, extrinsic, adventitious; subsidiary, superficial, supplemental.

180. innocuous

adjective

1 The women exchanged innocuous gossip over lunch: harmless, not damaging, 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

1 hurtful, deleterious, harmful, insidious, obnoxious, damaging, injurious, offensive, malicious.

2 powerful, trenchant, compelling, impressive.

181. insensibility

noun

1 The patient lapsed into insensibility: unconsciousness.

2 His insensibility to criticism was legendary: indifference, apathy, insusceptibility.

—Antonyms consciousness; concern, sensibility.

182. insinuate

verb

1 The article insinuated that the fighter was bribed: imply, suggest, hint slyly, allude remotely to,
intimate, asperse, whisper, let fall.

2 The social climber insinuated herself into the group: ingratiate, push artfully, worm one's way,
gently incorporate, introduce subtly, wheedle, inject, insert.

—Antonyms

1 deny.

2 withdraw, remove, retreat; alienate.

183. insipid

adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 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.

184.insularity (state of being insulated) insulate

verb

Thick walls insulated the house: shield, protect, cocoon, cushion, line, wrap; isolate, keep apart,
seclude, sequester, separate.

185. intractable

adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

tractable, obedient, docile, submissive, subdued; compliant, acquiescent, amiable.

186. intransigent

adjective

The intransigent strikers refused to negotiate: uncompromising, stubborn, intractable, obdurate,

iron-willed, steadfast, diehard, unyielding, unmovable, unbudgeable, inflexible.

—Antonyms

compromising, yielding, flexible, open-minded, acquiescent, compliant

187. inundate

verb

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 drain dry, reclaim, desiccate, parch, empty.

188. inure

verb

Growing 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.

189. invective

noun

Invective 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.

—Antonyms

praise, honor, commendation.

190. irascible

adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms
good-natured, amiable, gentle, mild, placid, serene, tranquil, easygoing.

191. irresolute

adjective

His irresolute nature made him a poor executive: indecisive, wavering, hesitating, hesitant,
faltering, unsettled, doubtful, undecided, uncertain, unsure, changeable, vacillating, fickle, weak,
unsteady, unresolved.

—Antonyms

resolute, determined, unwavering, decisive; decided, certain.

192. itinerary

noun

1 Leave an itinerary so we can reach you: travel plan, schedule, detailed plan 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, travel record, journal, account,
diary, day book.

193. laconic

adjective

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.

—Antonyms

voluble, wordy, loquacious, garrulous, verbose.

194. lassitude

noun

His 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.

—Antonyms

vigor, energy, strength, robustness, freshness; verve, spirit, vitality; Informal get-up-and-go, push,
vim, pep.

195. latent
adjective

Many 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.

—Antonyms

activated, realized, developed; manifest, expressed, apparent, evident, obvious, conspicuous.

196. laud

verb

They lauded the brave attempt: praise, extol, applaud, celebrate, esteem, honor.

—Antonyms

censure, condemn, criticize.

197. lethargic

adjective

The 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.

—Antonyms

energetic, vigorous, alert, active, responsive, bright, spirited; energized, animated, stimulated.

198.levee

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

199. levity

noun

The 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.

—Antonyms

gravity, seriousness, sobriety, earnestness, solemnity, dignity.

200. log

noun

1 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.

verb

3 The college student spent his summers logging in the north woods: cut timber, fell trees, work
as a lumberjack, lumber.

201. loquacious

adjective

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

—Antonyms

silent, reserved, taciturn, closemouthed, uncommunicative, reticent.

202. lucid

adjective

1 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, easily understood, 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.

—Antonyms

1 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.

203. luminous

adjective

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

204. magnanimous

adjective

Only a truly magnanimous man could forgive such an insult: forgiving, free of vindictiveness,
generous, largehearted, liberal; charitable, beneficent, philanthropic, altruistic, unselfish, princely.

—Antonyms
unforgiving, vindictive, resentful, small, petty, selfish; parsimonious, miserly.

205. malinger

verb

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

206. malleable

adjective

1 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 in front of them:
impressionable, easily influenced, moldable, tractable, teachable, manageable, governable,
docile; adaptable, flexible, pliable, compliant.

—Antonyms

1 rigid, stiff, hard, firm; unyielding, inflexible, unbending, inelastic.

2 refractory, intractable, recalcitrant, ungovernable.

207. 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.

208. mendacious

adjective

The mendacious retailer misled us: lying, untrue, false, untruthful, deceitful.

—Antonyms

truthful, honest.

209. metamorphosis

noun

1 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 his business failure:
change in appearance or behavior, personality change, transformation, alteration, radical change,
startling change, permutation.

210. meticulous

adjective

Our meticulous housekeeper never forgets a thing: fastidious, scrupulous, exact, exacting,
minutely careful, solicitous about details, painstaking, precise, nice, finical, finicky, fussy,
particular; punctilious, perfectionist.

—Antonyms

careless, inexact, imprecise, sloppy, negligent.

211. misanthropic

adjective

His unhappy childhood fostered his misanthropic personality: antisocial, unfriendly, unsociable,
distrustful, unneighborly, inhospitable, morose, unpersonable, cynical, surly, discourteous,
unaccommodating, unapproachable, unresponsive, cold, distant.

—Antonyms

personable, amiable, amicable, loving, sociable, cordial; humanitarian; philanthropic, charitable.

212. mitigate

verb

There'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.

—Antonyms

increase, augment, heighten, enhance, strengthen.

213. mollify

verb

Flowers 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.

—Antonyms

exasperate, exacerbate, agitate, stir, increase.

214. morose
adjective

I 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.

—Antonyms

cheerful, blithe, happy, good-natured, pleasant, genial, amiable, friendly.

215. mundane

adjective

Artists often have trouble with the mundane affairs of life: ordinary, prosaic, commonplace,
worldly, terrestrial, earthly, down-to-earth, day-to-day, routine, humdrum, everyday, practical,
pedestrian, petty.

—Antonyms

heavenly, celestial, ethereal, empyrean, unearthly, unworldly, spiritual.

216. negate

verb

This 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.

—Antonyms

affirm, confirm, attest to, ratify, endorse, corroborate, reinforce, support.

217. neophyte

noun

The neophyte learned the ropes very fast: beginner, tyro, apprentice, trainee, novice, probationer,
newcomer, recruit, learner; tenderfoot, rookie, greenhorn, student, pupil; convert, proselyte,
entrant, disciple, no-vitiate.

—Antonyms

veteran, old hand, expert.

218. 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.

—Antonyms

1 obedient, agreeable, compliant, flexible, amenable; manageable, docile, tractable.

2 compassionate, sympathetic, caring, feeling, merciful, pitying, relenting, softhearted, kind,

gentle, tender.

219. obsequious

adjective

The boss prefers obsequious underlings: servile, fawning, toadying, sycophantic, subservient,
menial, ingratiating, deferential, slavish, cringing, cowering, mealymouthed, truckling, Slang
bootlicking, kowtowing, apple-polishing.

—Antonyms

domineering, overbearing, swaggering, lordly, imperious, proud, haughty, arrogant, impudent,

brash, bold, assertive, forceful, aggressive.

220. obviate

verb

The suspect's confession obviates the necessity for a trial: avert, avoid, make unnecessary,
circumvent, remove, do away with, preclude, prevent; forestall, divert, parry, sidetrack, ward off,
turn aside, stave off, fend off, Informal nip in the bud.

—Antonyms

necessitate, require, make essential, oblige, impel, cause, make unavoidable.

221. occlude

verb

Waste materials seem to be occluding the drain: obstruct, block, clog, shut off, shut up, choke,
choke off, plug, close, barricade, congest, stopper, stop up, constrict, strangulate.

—Antonyms

clear, unclog, open, ream, unplug.

222. officious

adjective

It'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 kibitzing; overbearing, domineering, self-important, self-assertive, high-handed, high and
mighty; pompous, patronizing.

—Antonyms

unobtrusive, in the background.

223. 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.

—Antonyms

easy, light, simple, effortless, trivial, trifling.

224. opprobrious

adjective

1 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.

—Antonyms

1 complimentary, flattering, approving, praising, laudatory, uncritical.

2 honorable, noble, meritorious, upright, ethical, principled, virtuous, moral; becoming,

praiseworthy, worthy, laudable, noteworthy, estimable.

225. oscillate

verb

1 The clock's pendulum caught the sunlight as it oscillated: swing, alternate, librate; pulsate,
vibrate, pulse, move back and forth, 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.

226. ostentatious

adjective

Grandfather warned us not to be ostentatious with our money. The dress is too ostentatious to
wear to a reception: flaunting wealth, fond of display, showing off, pompous, immodest,
grandiose, affected, high-flown; conspicuous, pretentious, flamboyant, flashy, showy, gaudy,
garish, loud, florid, overdone, exaggerated, obtrusive.

—Antonyms
modest, reserved, conservative, somber, sedate; inconspicuous, simple, plain.

227. paragon

noun

Aunt Sue has always been a paragon of virtue: model, example, exemplar, prototype, archetype,
paradigm, apotheosis, idea, symbol, pattern, standard, norm, criterion, yardstick.

228. partisan

noun

1 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 the hills: freedom fighter,
guerrilla, irregular, insurgent; (U.S. Civil War) bushwacker, jayhawker.

adjective

3 The senator vowed not to engage in partisan politics: favoring one political party, predisposed
toward one group, favoring a cause, partial, biased, prejudiced, one-sided, slanted, unbalanced,
subjective.

—Antonyms

1 detractor, defamer, censor, critic, backbiter, knocker; opponent, foe, adversary, rival, contender.

3 nonpartisan, bipartisan, unbiased, impartial, unprejudiced, disinterested, objective, broad-

minded, open-minded.

229. pathological

path•o•log•i•cal (path'* loj"i k*l) 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.

230. paucity

noun

There was a paucity of information on the reported invasion: scarcity, dearth, lack, shortage,
scarceness, scantiness, deficiency, poverty, sparsity, meagerness, puniness, thinness, poorness,
insufficiency.

—Antonyms

surfeit, overflow, excess, surplus, superabundance.

231. pedantic

adjective

When you ask him a question you get a pedantic answer: ostentatiously learned, pompous,
academic, scholastic, didactic, doctrinaire, bookish, stilted, dogmatic, punctilious, hairsplitting,
nitpicking, overly meticulous, fussy, finicky, overparticular.

—Antonyms

succinct, pithy, straightforward; vague; general, comprehensive

232. penchant

noun

The 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.

—Antonyms

hatred, dislike, loathing, aversion, abhorrence, disinclination, repulsion.

233. penury

noun

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

—Antonyms

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

234. perennial

adjective

He 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.

—Antonyms

temporary, occasional, sporadic, intermittent, periodic, evanescent; perishable, transient, fleeting,

ephemeral, temporal.

235. perfidious
adjective

Benedict 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.

236. perfunctory

adjective

That 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.

—Antonyms

careful, thorough, thoughtful, diligent, assiduous, attentive, warmhearted, effusive, spirited,

ardent, keen, zealous.

237. permeable

per•me•a•ble (pûr"me * b*l), adj. capable of being permeated.

[1400–50; late ME < LL permeabilis = permea(re) to PERMEATE + -bilis -BLE]

per"me•a•ble•ness, n.

per"me•a•bly, adv.

238. pervasive

adjective

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

239. phlegmatic

adjective

Admiral 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

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

interested.

240. piety
noun

The old woman expressed her piety by attending church daily: piousness, religiousness,
devoutness, devotion, godliness; reverence, respect, loyalty, dutifulness, humility; religiosity.

—Antonyms

impiety, sacrilege, ungodliness, blasphemy, irreverence; disrespect, disloyalty, infidelity.

241. placate

verb

No one can placate him when he's angry: calm, soothe, pacify, quiet, lull, mollify, assuage,
alleviate; appease, propitiate, win over, conciliate.

242.Plasticity.

plas•tic•i•ty (pla stis"i te), n.

1. the quality or state of being plastic.

2. the capability of being molded: the plasticity of clay.

[1775–85]

243. platitude

noun

The speech was dull and full of platitudes: trite remark, stereotyped expression, cliché, banality,
commonplace, truism, hackneyed saying, old saw, saw, threadbare phrase, Slang chestnut,
bromide, old familiar tune, same old thing.

244. plethora

noun

The potluck supper had a plethora of desserts but no meat dishes: excess, surplus, superfluity,
surplusage, surfeit, overabundance, superabundance, glut, overage, redundancy.

—Antonyms

shortage, lack, scarcity, deficiency.

245. plummet

verb

The hawk plummeted toward the earth: plunge, fall, fall headlong, drop straight down, dive,
tumble, descend abruptly, nosedive.

—Antonyms
rise, ascend, shoot upward, soar.

246. porous

adjective

Sponges are porous: absorbent, permeable, penetrable, pervious; honeycombed. sievelike,

cellular, riddled, lacy; spongy.

247. pragmatic

adjective

The problem requires a pragmatic solution, not theories: down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, practical,
utilitarian, hardheaded, sober, businesslike, hard-boiled, sensible, realistic, unidealistic, hard-
nosed, materialistic, unsentimental.

—Antonyms

idealistic, theoretical; romantic, dreamy, sentimental.

248. preamble

pre•am•ble (pre"am'b*l, pre am"-), n.

1. an introductory statement; preface.

2. the introductory part of a statute, deed, constitution, or other document, stating the intent of
what follows.

3. a preliminary or introductory fact or circumstance.

[1350–1400; ME < ML praeambulum, n. use of neut. of LL praeambulus walking before. See

PRE-, AMBLE]

pre"am'bled, adj.

249. precarious

adjective

1 The situation was precarious politically: vulnerable, uncertain, problematical, ticklish,

uncontrolled, critical, insecure, touch-and-go, not to be depended upon, unreliable,
undependable, doubtful, dubious, questionable.

2 Free-lance work can be a precarious occupation: hazardous, risky, perilous, unsafe, chancy,
unsteady, unstable, shaky; alarming, sinister.

—Antonyms

1 certain, sure, secure, dependable, reliable, unquestionable.

2 safe, steady, stable.

250. precipitate

verb

1 The war precipitated his induction into the army: hasten, bring on, quicken, expedite, speed up,
accelerate, advance, spur.

2 The explosion precipitated tons of snow from the mountain: throw, hurl, thrust, cast, fling,
propel, drive, launch, catapult, discharge, let fly.

adjective

3 She had to make precipitate choices as the test was only 5 minutes: hurried, hasty, abrupt,
rushed, proceeding rapidly, speedy; headlong, reckless, rash, incautious, foolhardy, imprudent,
thoughtless, impetuous, impulsive.

251. precursor

noun

The polite letters were only precursors to blackmail: vanguard, advance guard, forerunner;
harbinger, messenger; usher, herald; predecessor, antecedent; sign, token, mark, omen, portent,
warning; symptom.

252. presumptuous

adjective

1 It was presumptuous of the young senator to challenge the leadership so soon: bold,
audacious, daring, overconfident, overfamiliar, forward, nervy, shameless, brash, brazen, brassy,
fresh, cocky.

2 Her presumptuous airs made her disliked by many: haughty, proud, snobbish, assuming,
overbearing, lofty, patronizing, pompous, lordly, imperious; disdainful, contemptuous,
domineering, dictatorial, arrogant.

253. prevaricate

verb

She may have prevaricated a bit about her illustrious forebears: lie, fib, stretch the truth,
dissemble, perjure, deceive, palter, be untruthful, tell a story, tell a tall story, be evasive; falsify,
misstate, fake, hoodwink, counterfeit, misrepresent, mislead, distort.

254. pristine

adjective

It was a pristine part of the woods that few hikers had ever seen: undefiled, unsullied, untouched,
unspoiled, untarnished, virginal; uncontaminated, unpolluted, pure, unmarred.

—Antonyms

sullied, defiled, contaminated, polluted, spoiled, tarnished.

255. probity

noun

Above all, the Presidency needs a man of probity for the Cabinet post: integrity, uprightness,
honesty, virtue, high-mindedness, morality, character, principle, honor, trustworthiness,
incorruptibility, straightness, decency, goodness, righteousness.

—Antonyms dishonesty, duplicity, unscrupulous, corruption.

256. problematic

adjective

The composition of Saturn's rings is problematic: uncertain, doubtful, questionable, dubious,

unsettled, undetermined, enigmatic, unknown; perplexing, paradoxical, puzzling; difficult,
troublesome, worrisome.

—Antonyms

certain, settled, known, undisputed, unquestionable.

257. prodigal

adjective

1 He had nothing left of his inheritance because of his prodigal ways: wasteful, spendthrift,
unthrifty, thriftless, overliberal, profligate, extravagant, exorbitant, lavish, excessive, gluttonous;
improvident, dissipating, inordinate, intemperate, immoderate, reckless, impetuous, precipitate,
wanton.

2 The prodigal amount of eggs laid by the fish insure the survival of the species: bountiful,
profuse, abounding, abundant, plentiful, bounteous, ample; lush, luxuriant, lavish, exuberant,
generous; numerous, countless, numberless, innumerable, multitudinous; teeming, swarming,
myriad, replete, copious.

noun

3 The prodigal went through money as if it were water: spendthrift, squanderer, spender, wastrel,
profligate.

—Antonyms

1 thrifty, frugal, economical, cautious, miserly, stingy; provident, temperate, moderate.

2 scarce, scanty, deficient, scant, meager, sparse, few, limited.

258. profound

adjective

1 That was a very profound statement: deep, thoughtful, wise, sagacious, sage, penetrating,
piercing, learned, erudite, intellectual, scholarly, educated; knowledgeable, comprehensive,
recondite, omniscient, all-knowing; philosophical, reflective, thoughtful, well-considered, sober,
serious, sober-minded; informed, well-informed, knowing, enlightened.
2 His death had a profound effect on her: deep, severe, abject, extreme; thorough,
thoroughgoing, far-reaching, radical, utter, out-and-out, complete, consummate; penetrating,
piercing, pronounced, decided, positive.

3 Please accept my profound apologies: deeply felt, heartfelt, keenly felt, sincere, heart-stirring,
strongly felt, deep-seated, soul-stirring, moving; hearty, intense, keen, acute, abject.

—Antonyms

1 shallow, superficial, unwise, stupid, unlearned, uneducated, unknowledgeable, thoughtless,

inconsiderate; uninformed, unenlightened; imprudent.

2 slight, superficial, shallow, surface, external.

3 insincere, shallow, hollow.

259. prohibitive also prohibitory

adjective

Prohibitive laws discouraged the drug trade. The project was abandoned because of prohibitive
costs: inhibitive, restrictive, circumscriptive, enjoining, restraining, forbidding; suppressive,
repressive; preventive, injunctive; hindering, obstructive, disallowing, disqualifying, inadmissible,
unacceptable.

260. proliferate

verb

Rabbits proliferated after they were introduced into Australia: multiply, increase, reproduce
rapidly, breed quickly, overproduce, procreate, regenerate, propagate, pullulate, teem, swarm;
hatch, breed, spawn.

261. propensity

noun

Children have a propensity for candy: inclination, leaning, proclivity, predilection, liking, partiality,
weakness, preference, penchant; attraction, liking, affinity, sympathy, favor, pleasure, taste,
fancy; turn, bent, tendency, predisposition, bias, prejudice, disposition.

—Antonyms

disinclination, aversion, loathing, dislike, hatred, antipathy, displeasure.

262. propitiate

verb

Offerings were made to propitiate the gods: appease, placate, pacify, calm, assuage, mollify,
conciliate, accommodate, soothe, allay.

—Antonyms

anger, madden, infuriate, roil, pique, provoke.

263. propriety

noun

Always conduct yourself with propriety: correctness; courtesy, decorum, good behavior,
decorousness, dignity, good manners, etiquette, formality, gentlemanly or ladylike behavior,
respectability; savoir faire, appropriateness, becomingness, applicability, fitness, suitableness,
seemliness, aptness, rightness.

—Antonyms

impropriety, incorrectness, discourtesy, misbehavior, misconduct, bad manners, faux pas,

inappropriateness, unsuitability, unseemliness, inaptness, wrongness.

264. proscribe

verb

During the Renaissance the church proscribed scientific works like those of Galileo: denounce,
condemn, censure, disapprove, repudiate; curse, damn, anathematize; outlaw, prohibit, forbid,
interdict, ban, excommunicate; banish, exile; boycott.

—Antonyms

allow, permit, encourage, aid.

265. pungent

adjective

1 The ribs were served with a hot, pungent sauce: sharp-tasting, highly flavored, savory, spicy,
flavorful, piquant, flavorsome, palatable, tasty, highly seasoned, salty, peppery, hot; nippy, tangy,
strong, stimulating, sharp; sharp-smelling, acrid, sour, acid, tart, astringent, vinegary, caustic,
bitter, acetous, biting, stinging, smarting, penetrating.

2 His pungent ridicule made him quite a few enemies: sharp, piercing, pointed, acute, trenchant,
keen, poignant; stinging, biting, mordent, caustic, invidious, cutting, incisive, penetrating,
sarcastic, smart, wounding, tart, acrimonious, bitter; stimulating, stirring, provocative, tantalizing,
racy, spicy, scintillating; sparkling, brilliant, clever, snappy, keen-witted, witty.

—Antonyms

1 bland, mild; unsavory, unpalatable, flavorless, tasteless; weak, unstimulating.

2 dull, mild, moderate, inane, vapid; pointless.

266. qualified

adjective

1 Take that dog to a qualified veterinarian: experienced, trained, competent, practiced, versed,
knowing; eligible, fit, fitted, equipped, suited, meet, equal; capable, adept, able, talented, skilled,
skillful, accomplished, expert; certified, licensed, authorized; efficacious, proficient, efficient.

2 He gave a qualified answer when I asked for definite assurances: limited, indefinite, conditional,
provisional, reserved, guarded; restricted, limited, hedging, equivocal, ambiguous.

—Antonyms

1 inexperienced, untrained, unpracticed.

267. quibble

verb

1 The children quibbled over who got the bigger piece of cake: argue, bicker, squabble, hassle;
raise trivial objections, carp, nag, cavil, nitpick, haggle, niggle; pick a fight, spar, fence; be
evasive, dodge the issue, equivocate, waffle, fudge.

noun

2 A quibble over exact wording delayed passage of the bill: trivial objection, cavil, petty
distinction, nicety; evasion, equivocation, dodge, shift, shuffle, distraction, delaying tactic;
subtlety, subterfuge; white lie, prevarication, pretense, artifice, duplicity.

268. quiescent

qui•es•cent (kwe es"*nt, kwi-), adj. being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless: a quiescent
mind.

[1600–10; < L quiescent-, s. of quiescens, prp. of quiescere to rest; see -ENT]

qui•es"cent•ly, adv.

qui•es"cence, qui•es"cen•cy, n.

269. rarefied

adjective

The collectors had rarefied tastes: refined, esoteric, special, secret, recondite, inside, privileged.

270. recalcitrant

adjective

The recalcitrant youth needed more understanding teachers: stubborn, obstinate, unwilling,
unsubmissive, headstrong, refractory, mulish, pigheaded, bullheaded, willful, contrary, balky,
unruly, disobedient, intractable.

—Antonyms

obedient, compliant, amenable, submissive, yielding; controllable, manageable, governable.

271. recant

verb

Under cross-examination she recanted her previous testimony: retract, take back, deny, abjure,
withdraw, unsay, repudiate, disavow, renege, recall, revoke, renounce, rescind, disclaim, disown,
forswear, repeal, eat one's words, apostatize, change one's mind.

—Antonyms

reaffirm, confirm, repeat, validate.

272. recluse

noun

The recluse emerged from his hideaway: hermit, solitary, ascetic.

273. recondite

adjective

She submitted a recondite thesis for her Ph.D.: profound, deep, abstruse.

—Antonyms

clear, obvious, patent.

274. refractory

adjective

The refractory horse stopped dead in its tracks: stubborn, unmanageable, obstinate, perverse,
mulish, headstrong, pigheaded, contumacious, intractable, disobedient, recalcitrant,
cantankerous, ungovernable, unruly.

—Antonyms

obedient, tractable.

275. refute

verb

The accused was given no opportunity to refute the accusations: disprove, confute, give the lie to,
invalidate, counter, rebut, answer, challenge, contradict, deny.

—Antonyms

prove, vindicate, support, confirm, corroborate, substantiate.

276. relegate

verb
1 They relegated the task to her: entrust, hand over, turn over, charge, commit, consign,
delegate, pass on, refer, assign.

2 They relegated him to the second division: demote, banish, eject, displace, expel, ostracize.

277. reproach

verb

1 He was severely reproached for his rude behavior: find fault with, chide, admonish, reprimand,
rebuke, reprove; criticize, censure, condemn, stigmatize, malign, vilify, revile, blame; scold,
upbraid, rail at, castigate, charge, tongue-lash, call to account, take to task; disparage, denounce,
asperse; shame, disgrace.

noun

2 Her behavior was above reproach. The workers feared their supervisor's reproaches: blame,
rebuke, reproof; upbraiding, scolding, remonstrance, criticism, censure, hard words, tirade,
diatribe.

3 The youth's bad behavior is a constant reproach to his parents: cause of blame, badge of
infamy, stigma, taint, blemish, stain, blot, spot, tarnish, slur; indignity, insult, offense; shame,
humiliation, degradation, embarrassment, scandal, disgrace, dishonor, discredit.

—Antonyms

1 praise, commend, applaud, compliment.

2 commendation, compliment, praise, applause, honor.

3 honor, credit.

278. reprobate

noun

1 The old reprobate never reformed: wicked person, degenerate, profligate, roué, prodigal, rake,
rakehell, immoralist, vo-luptuary, wanton, abandoned person; rascal, scamp, black sheep,
rapscallion, rotter; miscreant, sinner, transgressor, evildoer, wrongdoer, outcast, castaway,
pariah, derelict, untouchable.

adjective

2 He was a reprobate person with no redeeming qualities: corrupt, incorrigible, depraved,

profligate, degenerate, dissolute, abandoned, shameless; wicked, evil, evil-minded, low, base,
bad, vile.

—Antonyms

1 angel, paragon, saint.

2 pure, virtuous, righteous, saintly, angelic.

279. repudiate

verb

1 The new government repudiated the treaty signed by the former rulers: reject, disavow, deny,
disclaim, protest; rescind, reverse, revoke, repeal, retract, void, nullify, annul, declare null and
void, abrogate, cancel, abolish, dissolve.

2 The man repudiated the religion he was born into and became an atheist: disown, disavow,
reject, cast off, discard, wash one's hands of, abandon, desert, forsake, renounce.

—Antonyms

1 accept, approve; adopt, espouse.

2 acknowledge, accept, embrace, welcome.

280. rescind

verb

The judge rescinded the court's previous decision: revoke, reverse, retract, repeal, recall, take
back, invalidate, countermand, overrule, counterorder, override, set aside, discard, get rid of,
sweep aside; void, annul, abrogate, abolish, declare null and void, nullify, cancel, quash, dissolve.

—Antonyms

uphold, support; validate.

281. resolution

noun

1 The resolution passed by two votes: motion, formal proposition, proposal.

2 Have you made a New Year's resolution?: resolve, promise, intent, intention, purpose, plan,
design, ambition; objective, object, aim, goal.

3 He lacked the resolution to get through medical school: resoluteness, firmness of purpose, fixed
purpose, persistence, determination, tenacity, resolve, will power, perseverance, resilience,
steadfastness, stability, steadiness, constancy; zeal, earnestness, energy, indefatigability, mettle,
spirit, aggressiveness, follow-through.

4 He was faced with the resolution of a difficult matter: solution, resolving, clearing up, working-
out.

282. reticent

adjective

T.E. Lawrence became an increasingly reticent man: taciturn, quiet, uncommu-nicative, silent,
sparing of words, close-mouthed, tight-lipped; reserved, retiring, shy, withdrawn, diffident, self-
contained, restrained, subdued, closed.
—Antonyms

voluble, talkative, communicative, unreserved, expansive, inclined to speak freely, candid, frank,
open, plain.

283. reverence

noun

Aeneas' reverence toward his father was one of our Latin teacher's favorite themes: deep
respect, esteem, regard, honor, homage, deference, veneration, admiration, adoration, devotion,
worship; awe, fear; devoutness, piety, gesture indicative of deep respect, observance;
genuflection, prostration, religiosity.

—Antonyms

irreverence, disrespect, disregard, scorn, contempt, dishonor; hatred.

284.sage

noun

1 The king brought difficult problems to a sage: wise man, magus, pundit, mage, philosopher,
savant, scholar, guru, mandarin, solon, Slang egghead.

adjective

2 He was sage in his judgment: wise, sapient, shrewd, prudent; sensible, sound, sagacious,
knowing, astute, intelligent.

—Antonyms

1 fool, idiot.

2 stupid, foolish, senseless.

285. salubrious

adjective

Regular exercise is salubrious: healthful, healthy, health-promoting, therapeutic, good for one,
salutary, bracing, beneficial, wholesome, lifegiving, invigorating.

—Antonyms

unhealthful, unhealthy, harmful, unwholesome, insalubrious, deleterious.

286. sanction

noun

1 We received sanction to proceed with our plans: approval, commendation, endorsement,

assent, consent, permission, authorization; leave, liberty, license, authority; ratification,
confirmation, support.
2 The international community imposed sanctions on Rhodesia for its illegal political actions:
penalty, pressure, punitive measure, coercion.

verb

3 Our plan wasn't sanctioned by the board of directors: approve, endorse, authorize, legitimate,
allow, permit, countenance, accept, agree to, favor, ratify, support.

—Antonyms

1 disapproval, forbiddance, refusal, ban, prohibition.

2 incentive, encouragement.

3 disapprove, reject, ban, prohibit.

287. satiate

verb

It was a banquet that more than satiated our need for food: satisfy, fill, gratify, suffice, content;
slake, quench; glut, stuff, sate, surfeit, overfill, overdo, cloy, saturate; sicken, disgust, nauseate;
jade, bore, weary.

288. saturate

verb

1 Heavy rain saturated the playing field: soak thoroughly, drench, souse, douse; immerse,
submerge.

2 Dust saturated the attic: fill, infiltrate, cover, permeate, infuse, suffuse, pervade, impregnate,
imbue.

—Antonyms

1 drain, dry.

289. savor

noun

1 This cake has the savor of nutmeg: taste, flavor, tang, spice, piquancy, pungency; smell,
aroma, odor, scent, fragrance; smack, relish, zest.

2 His words had the savor of vengeance: character, nature, particular quality, characteristic,
property, particularity, distinctive feature, peculiarity, trait, aura, quality; substance, essence, gist,
spirit, soul.

verb

3 Her sauce savored of garlic. This plan savors of treason: taste, smell, smack, have a touch,
show traces, have the earmarks, be suggestive.
4 He savored the cookies with cinnamon: spice, season, flavor.

5 We ate the stew slowly, savoring it: enjoy, relish, like; take pleasure in, delight in, luxuriate in,
rejoice in, appreciate.

6 He had savored power during his first term in office: experience, taste, sample, try.

290. secrete

verb

The escaped convicts secreted themselves in a cave: hide, conceal, cache, Informal stash; cloak,
curtain, screen, veil, disguise; keep secret, keep under wraps, cover, shroud.

—Antonyms

reveal, show, display, exhibit.

291. shard (shärd) also sherd, n.

1. a fragment, esp. of broken earthenware.

2. Zool.

a. a scale.

b. a shell, as of an egg or snail.

c. the hardened forewing of a beetle; elytron.

292. skeptic or sceptic

noun

He's too much of a skeptic to take anything simply on faith: doubter, doubting Thomas,
questioner, scoffer; agnostic, unbeliever, atheist.

293. solicitous

adjective

1 He was very solicitous about her office problems: concerned, thoughtful, mindful, regardful,
anxious, attentive.

2 The politicians do not seem overly solicitous to proceed in this investigation: eager, zealous,
desirous, longing, ardent, intense, keen, avid, enthusiastic, intent.

—Antonyms

1 unconcerned, undisturbed.

2 uninterested, unambitious, unenthusiastic.

294. soporific

adjective

1 His soporific voice almost put us to sleep: hypnotic, somniferous, sleep-inducing, balmy,
sluggish, heavy.

2 This warm weather makes me soporific: sleepy, sluggish, drowsy, somnolent, slumberous;
lethargic, lazy.

noun

3 Wine is a soporific for me: sedative, hypnotic; sleep-inducer.

—Antonyms

1,2 lively, animated.

3 stimulant.

295. specious

adjective

He reached the wrong conclusion by specious reasoning: deceptive, misleading, fallacious,

questionable, casuistic, dubious, false, invalid, faulty, sophistical, unsubstantiated, unsound,
unfounded, incorrect, inaccurate, slippery, tricky, untrue, spurious, illogical.

—Antonyms
valid, conclusive, undeniable, inescapable.

296. spec•trum (spek"tr*m), n., pl. -tra (-tr*), -trums.

1. a. an array of entities, as light waves or particles, ordered in accordance with the magnitudes
of a common physical property, as wavelength or mass.

b. the band or series of colors, together with invisible extensions, produced by dispersion of
radiant energy, as by a prism.

2. a broad range of varied but related ideas, objects, etc., that form a continuous series or
sequence: the spectrum of political beliefs.

297. sporadic

adjective

We've had only sporadic snow flurries this month: irregular, spotty, scattered, sparse, spasmodic,
fitful, widely spaced, now and then, occasional, infrequent, periodic, fragmentary, intermittent,
discontinuous, few and far between, meager, few, thin, scarce, rare, isolated, uncommon;
haphazard, random.

—Antonyms

continuous, regular, steady, constant.

298. stigma

noun

There was no stigma attached to losing the election: disgrace, shame, odium, dishonor; blot,
blemish, brand, flaw, mark of shame, smirch, smudge, besmirchment, taint, tarnish.

—Antonyms
glory, honor, distinction, credit, approval.

299. stint

verb

1 I'll have to stint my charity gifts this year: restrict, set limits to, give in small amounts, limit, cut
down on, reduce, be sparing with, restrain, constrain, circumscribe, check, curb.

2 One thing Mother never stints on is food: be sparing, hold back, scrimp, be frugal, save, deny
oneself, economize, pinch pennies, withhold, be parsimonious.

noun

3 She was assigned the most difficult stint. The band did a stint in Las Vegas: job, chore, task,
duty, work period, term, assignment, part, turn, shift, quota; engagement.

300. stipulate

verb

Our contract with the decorator stipulates the maximum amount he can charge us: specify, set
forth, insist upon, state, designate, indicate, name, cite, make a point of, make provision; promise,
pledge, guarantee, insure, grant, provide, allow, assure, agree, warrant.

301. stolid

adjective

He's too stolid to show excitement about anything: impassive, unemotional, apathetic, sluggish,
lethargic, phlegmatic, dull, obtuse, lumpish, bovine, dense; insensitive.

—Antonyms

excitable, emotional, passionate, energetic, lively, active, animated, acute.

302. strait (strat), n.

1. Often, straits. (used with a sing. v.) a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of
water.

2. Often, straits. a position of difficulty, distress, or need.

3. Archaic. a narrow passage or area.

4. ISTHMUS.

adj. Archaic.

5. narrow.

6. confined in area.

7. strict, as in requirements or principles.

303.strut
verb

He strutted into the restaurant as though he owned it: swagger, walk pompously, parade, sail,
sashay, peacock, promenade.

—Antonyms

cringe, cower, slink, sneak.

304. subpoena

sub•poe•na or sub•pe•na (s* pe"n*, s*b-), n., pl. -nas, v., -naed, -na•ing. Law.

n.

1. a writ to summon witnesses or evidence before a court.

v.t.

2. to serve with a subpoena

305.subside

verb

1 As the land subsides, the sea advances: settle, sink; drop, cave in, sag, descend.

2 My nervousness subsided when the plane landed. The crowds subsided: diminish, lessen,
abate, decrease, wane, moderate, level off, ebb, calm, recede, melt away, let up, ease, shrink,
dwindle.

—Antonyms

1,2 rise; increase, swell.

2 grow, heighten, intensify.

306.substantiate

verb

You haven't substantiated your argument at all: verify, corroborate, prove, demonstrate, show to
be true, confirm, authenticate, sustain, support.

—Antonyms

disprove, refute, discredit, undermine, tear to shreds, explode

307.supersede

verb

This new drug will supersede all others in the treatment of the disease: supplant, replace, take
the place of, substitute for, displace, succeed; discard, set aside.

308.supposition

noun
That was only supposition. He acted on the supposition that the public would applaud his feat:
presumption, assumption, conjecture, opinion, predication, surmise, guess, guesswork, suspicion,
belief, theory, thesis, notion, view, speculation, hypothesis, proposition, postulate, idea, given.

—Antonyms

certainty, surety, fact, knowledge

310.tacit

adjective

The neighbors had a tacit agreement not to park in front of each other's houses:
unexpressed, understood, assumed, implied, inferred, implicit, wordless, undeclared,
unspoken, unstated, taken for granted.

311. tangential

tan•gen•tial (tan jen"sh*l), adj.

1. pertaining to or of the nature of a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.

2. incidental; peripheral.

3. divergent or digressive: tangential remarks.

[1620–30]

tan•gen'ti•al"i•ty (-she al"i te), n.

tan•gen"tial•ly, adv.

312.tenuous

adjective

Some legislators made a rather tenuous argument against the bill: weak, flimsy, shaky,
unsubstantial, unsupported, slight, slim, thin, slender, frail, fragile, delicate, gossamer, shallow,
paltry, unconvincing, halfhearted, uncertain, indefinite.

—Antonyms

strong, solid, valid, substantial

313.tirade

noun

The principal delivered a tirade to the disobedient students. The political candidate let loose a
tirade against his opponent: long angry speech, harangue, diatribe, jeremiad, lecture, reprimand,
scolding, dressing-down, screed, fulmination; denunciation, condemnation, castigation,
vilification, invective, vituperation, curse.

—Antonyms

good word, short eulogy, panegyric, complimentary speech, praising speech, laudation,
commendation, homage, paean.

314.torpidity

Her torpor may be due to illness: sluggishness, slow movement, inertia, lethargy, laziness,
languidness, listlessness, lassitude, indolence, languor, apathy, passiveness, dullness;
sleepiness, drowsiness, somnolence; inactivity, inertia.

—Antonyms

energy, vigor, vim, pep, animation, liveliness, alertness; wide-awakeness

315.torturous

adjective

He had a torturous toothache. The losing candidate spent a torturous night listening to the
election returns: torturing, painful, agonizing, racking, cruel, anguishing, tormenting, distressing,
distressful, excruciating, miserable, harrowing, anguished, tormented, distressed, annoying,
irksome, unpleasant, galling, disagreeable.

—Antonyms

painless, pleasant, pleasing, delightful, enjoyable, agreeable, welcome, comforting; gratifying;

contented, cheerful, joyous, happy.

316.tractable

adjective

A dude ranch needs tractable horses for its guests: amenable, easy to manage, manageable,
easy to control, controllable, governable, obedient, trainable, teachable, docile, tame, submissive,
compliant, yielding.

—Antonyms

intractable, unmanageable, uncontrollable, ungovernable, disobedient, wild, unruly, refractory,

headstrong, willful, stubborn, obstinate.

317. transgression

noun

The sinner prayed that his transgressions would be forgiven. Eavesdropping is a transgression
on another's privacy: offense, sin, misdeed, evil deed, trespass, lapse, iniquity, wrongdoing,
wrong, immorality, error; infraction, infringement, breach, encroachment, contravention,
overstepping; violation, infraction, crime, lawbreaking.

—Antonyms

virtue, morality, probity, righteousness, grace, good deed, merit; observance, compliance,
adherence.
318. truculent

adjective

His truculent nature gets him into a lot of scrapes: belligerent, bellicose, aggressive, pugnacious,
hostile, defiant, fierce, nasty, ill-tempered, bad-tempered, ill-humored, ill-natured, snarling; surly,
cross, touchy, peev-ish, snappish, petulant, sour, ungracious, churl-ish, sulky, insolent, rude.

—Antonyms

peaceful, gentle, kind, diffident, accommodating, friendly, gracious, amiable, affable.

319. vacillate

verb

1 He seemed certain about it yesterday, but today he's vacillating: waver, be irresolute, hesitate,
be unsettled, be doubtful, be changeable, fluctuate, falter, not know one's own mind, shilly-shally,
hem and haw, blow hot and cold.

2 The earthquake caused the entire house to vacillate: sway, move to and fro, rock, roll, toss,
pitch, shift, waver, totter, teeter, reel, oscillate, wobble, flutter, vibrate.

—Antonyms 1 be determined, be resolute, be steadfast, be certain, be settled.

320. venerate

verb

As a child he venerated his grandparents: revere, esteem, respect, honor, admire, idolize, adore,
cherish, extol, glorify, look up to, treat with deference, pay homage to, reverence, worship, hallow.

—Antonyms

scorn, disdain, contemn, despise, detest, hate, execrate, dishonor; disregard, slight, spurn.

321. veracious

adjective

The veracious reporter was a stickler for detail: honest, truthful, accurate, dependable, faithful,
genuine, reliable, trustworthy, straightforward.

322. verbose

adjective

The senator is so verbose it takes him an hour to tell a simple joke: wordy, longwinded, voluble,
circumlocutory, effusive, grandiloquent, prolix, talkative, garrulous, gabby, loquacious.

—Antonyms

terse, concise, succinct, pithy; reticent, curt, brusque.

323. viable
adjective

1 The fetus is considered viable at six months. No crops are viable in this barren soil: capable of
independent life, able to live, able to develop, able to thrive, capable of growing.

2 If the plan doesn't succeed do you have a viable alternative?: workable, practical, practicable,
feasible, usable, applicable, adaptable.

—Antonyms

1,2 nonviable.

2 unviable, impractical, useless, unworkable, unusable.

324. viscous

adjective Molasses is a liquid, but an extremely viscous one: thick, viscid, sticky, gluey, syrupy,
tacky, slimy, gummy, glutinous, Informal gooey.

325. vituperation

noun

Her simple mistake hardly merited so much vituperation: abuse, faultfinding, invective, scolding,
denunciation, censure, blame, tongue-lashing, revilement, obloquy, scurrility, castigation, tirade,
calumniation.

—Antonyms

praise, acclaim, adulation, flattery.

326. volatile

adjective

1 Volatile liquids must be kept in very tightly closed containers: evaporating quickly, evaporable,
vaporizing, vaporous; gaseous.

2 The situation in the Middle East is volatile: explosive, eruptive; unstable, unsettled.

3 Richard is too volatile to stick with one job very long: changeable, erratic, unstable, variable,
unsteady, irresolute, fitful, spasmodic, unpredictable, undependable, inconstant, capricious,
mercurial, temperamental, moody, fickle, flighty, giddy, frivolous; brash, reckless, wild, rash.

—Antonyms

1,2,3 stable.

2 calm, peaceful.

3 constant, consistent, steady, even-tempered, dependable, resolute, determined, coolheaded,

self-controlled, serious, sober.

327. warrant

noun
1 The police have a search warrant. There is a warrant out for the suspect's arrest: authorization,
permission, permit; license.

verb

2 Such actions warrant a severe reprimand: justify, provide grounds for, give sufficient reason for;
permit, authorize, license.

3 The manufacturer warrants that all parts are new: guarantee, certify, vouch for, pledge, swear,
attest, affirm, promise, vow, avow, assure, assert, declare, asseverate, aver.

328. wary

adjective

It does no harm to be wary of new acquaintances: cautious, careful, guarded, suspicious, chary,
heedful, mindful, watchful, vigilant, on one's guard, alert, wakeful, wide-awake; discreet,
circumspect, close-mouthed, prudent.

—Antonyms

unwary, unsuspecting, unguarded, rash, reckless, foolhardy, careless, heedless, incautious;

negligent, remiss.

329. welter

verb

1 The huge waves weltered throughout the night. The dog weltered happily in the muddy puddle:
roll, toss, heave, writhe; wallow, grovel, tumble about.

noun

2 Sort this welter of dirty clothes for the laundry: jumble, mass, heap, mess, pile, hodgepodge.

3 It's hard to hear above the welter of street noises: confusion, tumult, commotion, turmoil,
hubbub, racket, bustle; turbulence, storm, tempest.

330. whimsical

adjective

1 Jerry is much too whimsical to be a businessman: fanciful, capricious, notional, eccentric,

quixotic; fickle, fitful, inconsist-ent, erratic, changeable, chimerical.

2 Her essay on the care and feeding of husbands is pleasantly whimsical: droll, amusing,
waggish, fanciful, quaint.

—Antonyms

1 staid, serious, sedate, sober, practical, down-to-earth, pragmatic, matter-of-fact; steady,

consistent.
331. zealot

noun

1 It takes a real zealot to be a top-notch car salesman: believer, enthusiast, partisan, champion,
devotee, fan, buff; go-getter, pusher, hustler, live wire, eager beaver.

2 Religious zealots wanted the entire population to wear sackcloth and ashes: fanatic, true
believer, obsessed person, bigot, extremist, crank, crackpot, nut.