VOCAB. UNIT 11

BREVITY

• (N.) shortness
• Syn: tenseness, pithiness
• Ant: verbosity, long-winded-ness
• He had a brevity of breath after he finished the triathlon.

COMPORT

• (V.) to conduct or bear oneself, behave;
• Syn: agree, concur
• He had to teach the dog to comport himself while they were out in public.

CONCISE

• (Adj) expressing much in a few words.
• Syn: brief, to the point
• Ant: wordy, long-winded
• He had to be concise with his message because he had to be somewhere soon.

DEMURE

• (Adj) sober or serious in manner, modest
• Syn: shy, sedate, seemly
• Ant: forward, assertive, immodest
• He was very demure about the win because he had respect for his opponent.

DEPRECIATION

• (N.) a lessening in value; a belittling
• Syn: cheapening
• Ant: increase, enhancement
• Money's value is just depreciating more and more each year.

DETEIORATE

• (V.) to lower in quality or value; to wear away
• Syn: worsen, decline, degenerate
• Ant: fix up, enhance
• The acid would just keep deteriorating his skin.

DIVULGE

• (V.) to tell, reveal; to make public
• Syn: disclose, impart, spill the beans
• Ant: hide, conceal, cover up
• Bruce Jenner went on TV to divulge his life story.

ENLIGHTENED

• (Adj) free, from ignorance and false ideas, possessing sound understanding
• Syn: knowing, aware, cultivated
• Ant: Ignorant, unaware, untaught
• The religion of Budhism evolves you reaching the final stage of enlightenment.

FORESTALL

• (V.) To prevent by acting first
• Syn: hinder, thwart, preclude
• Ant: welcome, accept, allow
• The bystander forestalled the bully so the victim would not get hurt.

GARBLE

• (V.) to distort in such a way to make unintelligible
• Syn: jumble, confuse
• Ant: elucidate, articulate
• As stories get passed on through the years they get garbled by different people.

PROPONET

• (N.) one who puts forward a proposal ; one who supports a cause or belief
• Syn: supporter, advocate, exponent
• Ant: opponent, critic, foe
• The marines almost mistook one of there proponents as a foe because he was dressed as an opponent.

QUAVER

• (V.) to shake, tremble; to trill
• Syn: vibrate, shiver, quake,
• Due to the earthquake shaking the house, his daughter was quavering in a corner.

RECOIL

• (V.) to spring back, shrink; (n.) the act of springing back.
• Syn: (v.) flinch; (n.) kickback
• Ant: (v.) advance, proceed
• Certain guns have a strong recoil that can hurt someone if they're not used right.

RECOUP

• (V.) to make up for, regain
• Syn: recover, retrieve
• Ant: lose, default, forfeit,
• The basketball team had to recoup after the crucial loss to their oppenent.

REEK

• (N.) An unpleasant smell; (v.) to give off unpleasant smells; to give a strong impression
• Syn: (n.) stench: (v.) stink, smell
• Ant: (n.) perfume, fragrance, bouquet
• The man on the bus reeked of a man who has not showered in days.

RELENTLESS

• (Adj.) unyielding, harsh, without pity
• Syn: stern, merciless, persistent
• Ant: merciful, accommodating, indulgent
• Simon Cowell is relentless when judging people on American Idol.

RIVULET

• (N.) a small stream
• Syn: creek, rill
• Surrounding the fortress was a rivulet people drank from.

SQUANDER

• (V.) to spend foolishly, waste
• Syn: misspend, dissipate
• Ant: save, economize, hoard
• He squandered all of the rations left for the week.

STACCATO

• (Adj.) detached, or disconnected in sound or style
• Syn: misspend, dissipate
• Ant: save, economize, hoard
• There was a staccato of Christmas bells in the Easter music

STATUTE

• (Adj.) detached or disconnected in sound or style
• Syn: rule, enactment
• The school has a statute prohibiting fighting.