UNIT 14 VOCABULARY

ALACRITY

• Def:(n.) a cheerful readiness; brisk and eager action
• Syn: promptness, willingness, dispatch, celerity
• Ant:reluctance, unwillingness, hesitancy

ALLEVIATE

• Def:(v.) to relieve, make more bearable
• Syn: lessen, lighten, allay, mitigate, assuage

ANTITHESIS

• Def:(n.) the direct opposite, a sharp contrast
• Syn: contrary, antipode

APPALL

• Def:(v.) to fill with dismay or horror
• Syn: shock, stun, stupefying, horrify
• Ant: please, cheer, gladden, elate, exhilarate

BELLICOSE

• Def:(adj.) warlike in manner or temperament; quarrelsome
• Syn: aggressive, combative, belligerent
• Ant: amicable, peaceable, conciliatory, pacific

DISPARAGE

• Def:(v.) to belittle, speak slightingly of; to undervalue
• Syn: degrade, decry, run down, underrate
• Ant: praise, extol, laud, plug

DISSONANT

• Def:(adj.) not In harmony; disagreeing, at odds
• Syn: grating, strident, unmelodious, irreconcilable
• Ant: harmonious, agreeing, euphonious

DROLL

• Def:(adj.) amusingly odd
• Syn: comical, humorous, whimsical, zany
• Ant: humorless, solemn, dour

EDICT

• Def:(n.) an order issued by someone in authority
• Syn: command, decree, proclamation

ELUCIDATE

• Def:(v.) to clarify, explain
• Syn: interpret, expound, explicate
• Ant: obscure, becloud, muddy, obfuscate

LAUD

• Def:(v.) to praise
• Syn: hail, extol, glorify, exalt
• Ant: criticize, censure, belittle, disparage

LOLL

• Def:(v.) to act in a lazy manner; to lounge; to recline, droop
• Syn: loaf, loiter, sag, dangle

LOQUACIOUS

• Def:(adj.) talkative, wordy; fond of talking
• Syn; gossipy, voluble, garrulous, long-winded
• Ant: silent, reticent, closemouthed, terse, taciturn

MAGNANIMOUS

• Def:(adj.) generous in forgiving, above small meanness
• Syn: unselfish, charitable, noble, bighearted
• Ant: petty, selfish, unforgiving, spiteful

MANDATORY

• Def:(adj.) required, obligatory
• Syn: compulsory, requisite, imperative
• Ant: optional, voluntary, discretionary

NONDESCRIPT

• Def:(adj.) ordinary, not outstanding; not easily classified
• Syn: plain, unremarkable, Vivid, prepossessing

PHLEGMATIC

• Def:(adj.) slow-moving, sluggish; unemotional
• Syn: lethargic, indolent, torpid, stolid, impassive
• Ant: emotional, sensitive, thin-skinned, excitable

RESCIND

• Def:(v.) to repeal, cancel
• Syn: withdraw, revoke, retract, annul, abrogate
• Ant: affirm, endorse, uphold, ratify

VIVACIOUS

• Def:(adj.) lively, sprightly, full of energy
• Syn: spirited, animated, ebullient
• Ant: dull, spiritless, listless, indolent, languid

WHET

• Def:(v.) to sharpen, put an edge on; to make keen or eager
• Syn: hone, excite, stimulate
• Ant: dull, blunt, deaden, stifle, dampen