unit 4 Flashcards
larceny (n.)
theft
SYNONYMS: stealing, robbery
Someone who steals property that is worth thousands of dollars commits grand larceny.
Larceny is the legal term for stealing. Grand larceny is when you take something worth a lot of money, petty larceny when the stolen item is worth relatively little.
pompous (adj.)
overly self-important in speech and manner; excessively stately or ceremonious
SYNONYMS: highfalutin, bombastic
ANTONYMS: unpretentious, plain
Political cartoonists like nothing better than to mock pompous public officials.
A pompous person is arrogant or conceited. He’ll walk into a party with an inflated ego, ready to tell anyone who will listen that “I’m kind of a big deal.”
reprieve (v.)
to grant a postponement
SYNONYM: delay
ANTONYM: proceed
A judge may reprieve a first-time offender from jail time until sentencing.
A reprieve is a break in or cancellation of a painful or otherwise lousy situation. If you’re being tortured, a reprieve is a break from whatever’s tormenting you.
hoodwink (v.)
to mislead by a trick, swindle
SYNONYMS: put one over on, fool
ANTONYM: disabuse
Many sweepstakes offers hoodwink people into thinking they have already won big prizes.
To hoodwink someone means to trick or mislead them. Beware of fake ATMs that try to hoodwink you into giving over your bank card and your code, only to keep them both and steal all your money.
fated (adj.)
determined in advance by destiny or fortune
SYNONYMS: destined, preordained, doomed
ANTONYMS: fortuitous, chance, random
The tragic outcome of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is fated from the play’s very first scene.
disentangle (v.)
to free from tangles or complications
SYNONYMS: unravel, unwind, unscramble, unsnarl
ANTONYMS: tangle up, ensnarl, snag
Rescuers worked for hours to disentangle a whale from the fishing net wrapped around its jaws.
When you disentangle something, you free it from a snarl or tangle. If you have long hair and pierced ears, you’ve probably had to disentangle an earring from a curl of hair.
precipice (n.)
a very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster
SYNONYMS: crag, bluff, ledge
ANTONYMS: abyss, chasm, gorge
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world hovered on the precipice of nuclear war.
Cartoon characters often end up on a precipice, the edge of a steep cliff, where their chubby toes curl and cling as they totter and eventually fall, making a hole in the ground below and getting up again. Most real people avoid precipices.
inanimate (adj.)
not having life; without energy or spirit
SYNONYMS: dead, spiritless
ANTONYMS: living, alive, energetic, sprightly
Although fossils are inanimate, they hold many clues to life on Earth millions of years ago.
Inanimate describes a non-living thing. Chairs, baseballs, sofa cushions and sadly, snowmen, are all inanimate objects.
access (v.)
to get at, obtain
You need a password in order to access your e-mail accounts.
Most libraries provide computers you can use to access the Internet. If chemicals are being stolen from a lab, you might ask who has access to the lab. Access is approaching or making use of something, or the ability to do so
revile (v.)
to attack with words, call bad names
SYNONYMS: inveigh against, malign, vilify
ANTONYMS: praise, acclaim, revere, idolize
The enraged King Lear reviled the daughters who have cast him out into a fierce storm.
If something is reviled, you alone don’t dislike it; a whole community of like-minded souls has to hate its guts. For instance, spam is widely reviled. (The junk e-mails, not the potted meat. Somebody out there really does like that potted meat.)
arduous (adj.)
hard to do, requiring much effort
SYNONYMS: hard, difficult, laborious, fatiguing
ANTONYMS: easy, simple, effortless
No matter how carefully you plan for it, moving to a new home is an arduous chore.
Use the noun anarchy to describe a complete lack of government — or the chaotic state of affairs created by such an absence. A substitute teacher might worry that an unruly classroom will descend into anarchy.
anarchy (n.)
a lack of government and law; confusion
SYNONYMS: chaos, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium
ANTONYMS: law and order, peace and quiet
In the final days of a war, civilians may find themselves living in anarchy.
Use the noun anarchy to describe a complete lack of government — or the chaotic state of affairs created by such an absence. A substitute teacher might worry that an unruly classroom will descend into anarchy.
rectify (v.)
to make right, correct
SYNONYM: set right
ANTONYMS: mess up, botch, bungle
The senators debated a series of measures designed to rectify the nation’s trade imbalance.
When you rectify something, you fix it or make it right. Some English teachers will give you a chance to rectify any mistakes you’ve made in an essay and hand in a second, edited draft.
pliant (adj.)
bending readily; easily influenced
SYNONYMS: supple, flexible, elastic, plastic
ANTONYMS: rigid, stiff, inflexible, set in stone
The pliant branches of the sapling sagged but did not break under the weight of the heavy snow.
The adjective pliant describes something that is capable of being bent. “The teenager showed off her pliant spine every time she draped herself over a piece of furniture. Why hanging upside down off the sofa didn’t give her a headache, her mother would never know.”
auspicious (adj.)
favorable; fortunate
SYNONYMS: promising, encouraging, propitious
ANTONYMS: ill-omened, sinister
My parents describe the day that they first met as a most auspicious occasion.
Use the adjective auspicious for a favorable situation or set of conditions. If you start a marathon by falling flat on your face, that’s not an auspicious start.
incinerate (v.)
to burn to ashes
SYNONYMS: burn up, cremate, reduce to ashes
Because of environmental concerns, many cities and towns no longer incinerate their garbage.
See incinerate and think: “burn, baby, burn!” Whether it’s an old love letter that makes you sad or a terrible picture of yourself, it might be better just to incinerate it, meaning, you burn it.
abscond (v.)
to run off and hide
SYNONYMS: bolt, make off, skip town
The thieves who absconded with several of the museum’s most valuable paintings have never been found.
Abscond is to escape, often taking something along. As a kid, you may have absconded from your lemonade stand — with the coffee can of cash in hand, and your bewildered sister still filling cups for your customers.
intrepid (adj.)
very brave, fearless, unshakable
SYNONYMS: valiant, audacious, daring
ANTONYMS: timid, cowardly, craven, pusillanimous
Intrepid Polynesian sailors in outrigger canoes were the first humans to reach the Hawaiian Islands.
Intrepid is just a fancy word for describing a person or action that is bold and brave. Super heroes are intrepid in their struggle for truth, justice and the American way.
reprieve (n.)
a temporary relief or delay
SYNONYMS: stay, respite
A vacation is a kind of reprieve from the cares and responsibilities of everyday life.
A reprieve is a break in or cancellation of a painful or otherwise lousy situation. If you’re being tortured, a reprieve is a break from whatever’s tormenting you.
daunt (v.)
to overcome with fear, intimidate; to dishearten, discourage
SYNONYMS: dismay, cow
ANTONYMS: encourage, embolden, reassure
Despite all its inherent dangers, space flight did not daunt the Mercury program astronauts.
Daunt means to frighten or scare off. The Cowardly Lion’s efforts to daunt Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man were less than successful.
access (n.)
approach or admittance to places, persons, things; an increase
SYNONYMS: entry, ingress
ANTONYM: total exclusion
Access to information on a seemingly unlimited number of topics is available over the Internet.
Most libraries provide computers you can use to access the Internet. If chemicals are being stolen from a lab, you might ask who has access to the lab. Access is approaching or making use of something, or the ability to do so.
prototype (n.)
an original model on which later versions are patterned
SYNONYMS: example, sample
ANTONYM: copy
The assembly line managers studied the
prototype of the new car for weeks before production began.
A prototype is the original model, a sample on which to base future designs. A company designing a new toaster will first design and build a prototype and then test it out and see if it’s any good.
