ENGLISH VOCABULARY UNIT 10

ADEPT

• (Adj.) thoroughly skilled; (n.) an expert
• (Syn) masterful, proficien
• Ant: clumsy, unskilled
• Though he was adept defensively in football he was not offensively.

ASPIRE

• (V.) to have ambitious hopes or plans,
• Syn: yearn, aim for, soar
• I aspire to one day to be the Mayor of a city.

BLEAK

• (Adj.) bare, dreary, dismal
• Syn: grim, cheerless
• Ant: approve, praise
• With a fifty to twenty score the team just looked off into space with a bleak expression.

CHIDE

• To blame; scold
• Syn: reprimand, rebuke
• Ant: approve, praise, compliment
• The team chided the kicker for missing the field goal.

DESPICABLE

• (Adj) worthy of scorn, contemptible
• Syn: low, cheap
• Ant: praiseworthy, commendable
• The actions he used after the game where completely despicable.

DIMINUTIVE

• (Adj) small, smaller than most others to the same type
• Syn: undersized, miniature
• Ant: oversized, gigantic, huge
• The freshman was diminutive through all four years of his high school career.

EMANCIPATE

• (V.) to free from slavery; to release or liberate
• Syn: set loose, unchain
• Ant: enslave, snare, chain
• To dog reacted like he was emancipated when he was let out of the cage.

ERRONEOUS

• (Adj) incorrect, containing mistakes.
• Syn: mistaken, all wrong
• Ant: accurate, correct
• The answer he gave to the teacher was completely erroneous.

EXPLOIT

• (V.) to make use of, develop;
• Syn: turn to advantage
• The quarterback lap earned to exploit the defenses mistakes.

EXTEMPORANEOUS

• (Adj) made or delivered on the spur of the moment.
• Syn: spontaneous
• Ant: planned, prepared
• He did not have a legit excuse so he just made on extemporaneously.

IMPAIR

• (V.) to make imperfect, damage, harm
• Syn: injure, disable
• Ant: improve, strengthen
• Due to the car crash the driver was physically impaired.

INVINCIBLE

• (Adj) not able to be defeated, unbeatable
• Syn: unconquerable
• Ant: vulnerable
• Superman is invincible to everything except kryptonite.

LANGUID

• (Adj.) drooping, without energy, sluggish
• Syn: lazy, listless, slack
• Ant: lively, energetic
• Everyday he walks into school with a languid look.

MIRE

• (N.) mud;wet, swampy ground; a tough situation
• Syn: swamp, bog
• We managed to get the truck through the mire without getting really dirty.

OBTRUSIVE

• (Adj) forward; undesirably prominent.
• Syn: brash, conspicuous,protruding
• Ant: reserved
• He obtrusively tried to take the group project over.

PREAMBLE

• An introduction to a speech or a piece of writing
• Syn: opening.
• Ant: ending
• The play began with a quick preamble telling us the history behind it.

RENDER

• (V.) to cause to become; to perform; to deliver officially.
• Syn: present, furnish, submit, make, effect
• He had to render the paper so it looked more presentable for the boss.

RUGGED

• (Adj) rough, irregular, severe
• Syn: rocky, blunt, harsh
• Ant: smooth, flat, soft
• Trucks like jeeps are meant to be driven on rugged terrain.

SKEPTICAL

• (Adj) inclined to doubt; slow to accept something as true
• syn: suspicious, incredulous
• Ant: believing, gullible
• His skeptical look made people nervous around him.

SLIPSHOd

• Untidy in dress, personal habits
• Syn:messy, untidy, slapdash
• Ant: tidy,neat, orderly
• After the party the house went from clean to slipshod in a matter of hours.