Vocabulary Unit 8

1. Vocabulary Unit 8 Mrs. Frazee

2. Pensive

3. The child sat by herself, looking pensive. • Rainy days often put her in a pensive mood.

4. pensive Adjective • meditative, solemn, musingly or dreamily thoughtful • suggestive of sad thoughtfulness • Synonyms: dreamy, pondering, preoccupied, reflecting, serious, thinking, withdrawn • Antonyms: ignorant, shallow

5. Prerogative

6. If you'd rather sell the tickets than use them, that's your prerogative . • It's a writer's prerogative to decide the fate of her characters.

7. Prerogative • Noun • an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege: as (1): one belonging to an office or an official body (2): one belonging to a person, group, or class of individuals (3): one possessed by a nation as an attribute of sovereignty • Right, Privilege • Synonyms: advantage, authority, birthright, immunity, liberty, sanction, title • Antonyms: Obligation, duty

8. Caste

9. He was from a higher caste. • The King is a member of the upper caste.

10. caste • Noun • Social Class • a division of society based on differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation, or race, the position conferred by caste standing : prestige • Synonyms: culturallevel, degree, grade, lineage, order, position, race, rank, social order, status

11. Affliction

12. She lost her sight and is now learning to live with her affliction. • He died from a mysterious affliction.

13. Affliction • Noun • hurt condition; somethingthatcauses hurt • the cause of persistent pain or distress • great suffering • Synonyms: depression, difficulty, disease, disorder, distress, grief, hardship, misery, misfortune, sickness, sorrow, suffering, torment, trial, trouble • Antonyms: aid, comfort, consolation, help, relief

14. Appreciable

15. The injured woman lost an appreciable amount of blood before the paramedics arrived.

16. Appreciable • Adjective • Sufficient to be noticed or measured • Synonyms: perceptible, detectable, considerable • Antonyms: slight, trivial, inconsequential

17. Blasphemy

18. Galileo was accused of blasphemy for asserting that the sun, and not the earth, is the center of the universe.

19. Blasphemy • Noun • An act, utterance, or writing showing contempt for something sacred • Synonyms: curse, profanity, sacrilege • Antonyms: reverence, devotion, respect

20. Brawny

21. In Arthurian legend, one brawny knight after another tries to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone, but no one succeeds.

22. Brawny • Adjective • Strong, muscular • Synonyms: broad-shouldered, strapping, husky, burly • Antonyms: slight, frail, delicate, puny

23. Wily

24. The fur trappers of colonial North America were known to be wily traders.

25. Wily • Adjective • Sly, shrewd, cunning • Synonyms: clever, tricky, artful, cagey • Antonyms: dull-witted, dense, straightforward

26. Curmudgeon

27. The old man who lived on the corner was widely viewed as a curmudgeon who never had anything good to say about his neighbors.

28. Curmudgeon • Noun • A bad tempered or surly person • Synonyms: cranky, grouch, fusser, sourpuss • Antonyms: optimist, Pollyanna, happy-camper

29. Buoyant

30. We were weary and anxious to get home, but our friend’s buoyant spirits kept us going.

31. Buoyant • Adjective • Able to float easily; able to hold things up; cheerful, hopeful • Synonyms: lighthearted, animated • Antonyms: downcast, depressed, gloomy

32. Enriched English

33. Synthetic

34. Sometimes only a jeweler can detect the difference between an expensive synthetic gem and a natural stone.Nylon, rayon, and polyester are all synthetics that have revolutionized the clothing industry.

35. Synthetic • Adjective • Made or put together by people; • Noun • Something artificial • Synonym: (adj.) artificial • Antonyms: (adj.) natural, genuine

36. Vindicate

37. Though the accused was vindicated in the end, his career was all but ruined by the allegations.

38. Vindicate • Verb • To clear from hint or charge of wrongdoing; to defend successfully against opposition; to justify • Synonyms: advocate, exonerate, acquit • Antonyms: convict, condemn

39. Elusive

40. The truth may prove elusive. • The giant squid is one of the ocean's most elusive inhabitants. • But for all their influence, D.C. lobbyists have failed to attain one elusive goal: public respect.

41. Elusive • Adjective • tending to elude: evasive, mysterious • tending to evade grasp or pursuit • hard to comprehend or define: hard to isolate or identify • Synonyms: ambiguous, baffling, difficult to catch, imponderable, incomprehensible, intangible, misleading, puzzling, shifty, shy, slippery • Antonyms: attracting, confronting, encountering, enticing, facing, inviting

42. Rudimentary

43. Though she had read several books on quantum physics, she still had only a rudimentary grasp on the subject.

44. Rudimentary • Adjective • Involving or limited to basic principles; Immature, undeveloped, or basic. • Synonyms: elementary, basic, primitive, primary • Antonyms: : additional, advanced, developed, extra, nonessential

45. Subversive

46. The underground movement circulated subversive pamphlets that criticized the government.The Alien and Sedition Acts enacted in 1798 gave the U.S. president the power to deport any noncitizen deemed subversive.

47. Subversive • Adjective • Intended to undermine or overthrow • Noun • One who advocates or attempts to undermine a political system • Synonyms: (adj.)treasonous, traitor (n.) a revolutionary • Antonyms: (adj.) patriotic, loyal, true-blue