Antithesis: a direct opposite; a contrast
Ascend: to move upward; rise from a lower station
Austere: strict; stern; unadorned; unembellished
autonomous: independent, self-contained
banal: common, ordinary, lacking freshness,
benign: not causing harm, beneficial
capricious: changing suddenly, fickle
dawdle: to waste time, to spend time idly,
defamation: act of harming or ruining another's reputation
esoteric: understood only by a small group or a select few
exacerbate: to aggravate, to irritate, to vex
extol: to praise, to glorify
fastidious: reflecting a meticulous or demanding
attitude, critical to an extreme
furtive: secret in an underhanded way, stealthy
gregarious: sociable and outgoing
hypocrite: one who is insincere or deceitful
innate: existing from birth, inborn
lethargic: sluggish, languid
melancholy: depression of spirits
opaque: not allowing the passage of light, not
transparent, hard to understand
prolific: abundantly fruitful, marked by a great
productivity
reprove: to scold or to rebuke for a misdeed usually
with kindly intent
symmetry: balanced proportions
tranquil: peaceful, calm
venerate: to honor, to revere

(noun ) Direct
opposite; contrast
The antithesis of peace
is war.
To move upward; rise
above—(verb)
My grades are
currently in the
dumps; I sure hope
they ascend soon.
Strict; stern;
unadorned—(adj)
The Puritan
lifestyle was
austere
compared to
most periods
of culture and
literature.
 Independent-(adj)
The teen longed
to be
autonomous
from her parents
and couldn’t
wait until she
could drive by
herself.
 Plain; ordinary; not
fresh; hackneyed or
cliched
Make
sure the
essay you write
for college is not
banal; no one
wants to read
about how you
would be an
“asset” to the
school.
 Innocuous; not
harmful
 We
were so
relieved to hear
that her tumor was
benign.
 Changing
fickle
suddenly;
The
capricious
girl had two
dates to the
homecoming
dance and
rejected both
guys at the last
minute.
 To
waste time; spend
time idly (verb)
Don’t
dawdle
when you
leave the room
with a pass to
go to the
restroom.
 The
act of harming or
disparaging another’s
reputation (noun)
The actress sued
the Inquirer
magazine for
defamation of
character after it
doctored photos
of her from her
teen years.
 Understood
select few
by only a
She liked to read
about esoteric
subjects so that
she could
impress her
friends.
 To
make worse; to
worsen; to
aggravate
The problems
with the
economy were
exacerbated by
the falling house
prices.
 To
praise; laud
(verb)
The
health
benefits of
exercise are
widely extolled.
 Particular; fussy
about details (adj)
 We
hired Martha to
clean, because she
was the most
fastidious, and we
could count on her to
make things
immaculate.
 Sneaky
I
(adj)
prefer dogs to
cats, because
cats can be quite
furtive when
they are in the
house.
 Social; affable;
outgoing—
 You
have to be
gregarious in your
first year of
college if you want
to meet friends.
 Duplicitous; two-
faced; says one thing
but does the other
The expression “the pot calling the
kettle black” refers to someone who is
hypocritical by calling someone out for
lying or doing something wrong, when
he is in fact doing the same thing or
worse.
 In-born; natural
 Her
artistic ability is
innate; her parents
are artists as well.
 Lazy; slow; fatigued
 This
flu has left me
feeling so lethargic, it
is an effort to walk.
 Sadness; despair;
state of lament
His melancholy
mood was
evident by the
way she dressed
in dark, baggy
clothing.
 Transparent
 Many
(adj)
people
decorate the
windows or doors of
their homes with
stained glass or other
forms of opaque
screening so that
light gets in but the
view is obscured.
 Abundant; copious;
productive
 Shakespeare
is one of
the most prolific
writers in English
literature.
To
scold;
castigate;
criticize
His
mother
reproved him
for leaving
dishes in the
sink.
State
of balance
Symmetry
in
our landscape,
our writing, and
our furnishings
engenders a
feeling of peace
and balance.
 Quiet; taciturn
 The
tranquil serenity
of the ocean was
disrupted by the loud
group of
motorcyclists.
 To
honor; revere
We venerate the
heroes of the
past and study
their
accomplishment
s.