VOCABULARY UNIT 10

Adept

• adj. thoroughly skilled n.) an expert
• syn: adj. masterful
• ant: adj. clumsy n.) novice
• Biggie Smalls was very adept at rapping.

Aspire

• v. to have ambitious hopes or plans, strive toward a higher goal
• syn: aim for, yearn
• When I'm older I aspire to playing college baseball.

Bleak

• adj. bare, dismal
• syn: grim, cheerless, gloomy
• ant: rosy, cheerful, sunny
• The team was very bleak when they were losing 19-0.

Chide

• v. to blame; scold
• syn: upbraid
• ant: approve
• When I got detention my parents were upset and scolded me when I talked to them.

Despicable

• adj. worthy of scorn, contemptible
• syn: low, cheap
• ant: praiseworthy
• The boy threw his pen at the board and his teacher asked him why he had such a despicable behavior.

Diminutive

• adj. small, smaller than most others of the same type
• syn: undersized, miniature
• ant: oversized, gigantic
• Most women who are scared will carry a diminutive pistol to feel protected.

Emancipate

• v. to free from slavery, to release or liberate
• syn: set loose, unchained
• ant: enslave, shackle
• Django was emancipated by Dr. King in the movie "Django Unchained."

Erroneous

• adj. incorrect, containing mistakes
• syn: mistaken
• ant: accurate
• My test was so erroneous that my teacher didn't even grade it.

Exploit

• v. to make use of, develop; to make improper use of for personal profit (n. a feat, deed
• syn: v. turn to advantage, misuse
• I exploited my resources and got 100 on my test.

Extemporaneous

• adj. made or delivered on the spur of the moment
• syn: spontaneous, off-the-cuff
• ant: planned, practiced
• The reason freestyle rapping is so good is because it's extemporaneous.

Impair

• v. to make imperfect, damage, harm
• syn: injure, cripple
• ant: strengthen
• Christopher Reeves was impaired by being kicked by a horse.

Invincible

• adj. not being able to be defeated, unbeatable
• syn: unconquerable, indomitable
• ant: vulnerable, conquerable
• Floyd Mayweather is invincible, as he is undefeated in his whole career. .

Languid

• adj. drooping; without energy, sluggish
• syn: lazy, listless
• ant: lively, energetic
• When I go to bed at two in the morning I feel very languid because I'm running on four hours of sleep.

Mire

• n. mud; wet, swampy ground, a tough situation (v. to get stuck
• syn: n. swamp, bog
• I used to have mire wars with wet mud in Ellicottville.

Obtrusive

• adj. forward; undesirably prominent; thrust out
• syn: brash, conspicuous
• ant: reserved, deferential, recessed
• I fell over the obtrusive baseball bag when I ran off the bench.

Preamble

• n. an introduction to a speech or piece of writing
• syn: opening, prologue
• ant: ending, closing, epilogue
• All of my teachers stress that we have excellent preambles.

Render

• v. to cause to become; to perform; to deliver officially; to process, extract
• syn: present, furnish
• The boys behavior was so bad it rendered his father speechless.

Rugged

• adj. rough, irregular; severe, stern; strong; stormy
• syn: rocky, blunt, harsh
• ant: smooth, flat, soft
• The road was unpaved and very rugged.

Skeptical

• adj. inclined to doubt; slow to accept something as true
• syn: suspicious, incredulous
• ant: believing, gullible
• The worker was skeptical about the new employee because he had a long police record.

Slipshod

• adj. untidy in dress, personal habits, etc; careless, sloppy
• syn: messy
• ant: orderly
• Any person who was in the army is the complete opposite of slipshod when it comes to neatness.