Vocabulary Unit 4
Level D
Abscond (v)
• The thieves who
absconded with
several of the
museum’s most
valuable paintings have
never been found.
• To run off and hide
• Synonyms: bolt, make
off, skip town
Access (n)
• You need a password in
order to access your
email accounts.
• Admittance to places,
persons, things; to
obtain
• Synonyms: entry,
admittance, entrée
• Antonyms: total
exclusion
Anarchy (n)
• In the final days of a
war, civilians may find
themselves living in
anarchy.
• A lack of government
and law; confusion
• Synonyms: chaos,
disorder, turmoil,
pandemonium
• Antonyms: law and
order, peace and quiet
Arduous (adj)
• No matter how carefully
you plan for it, moving to a
new home is an arduous
chore.
• Hard to do, requiring much
effort; difficult, laborious
• Synonyms: hard, difficult,
laborious, fatiguing
• Antonyms: easy, simple,
effortless
Auspicious (adj)
• My parents describe
the day that they first
met as a most
auspicious occasion.
• Favorable, fortunate
• Synonyms: promising,
encouraging, propitious
• Antonyms: ill-omened,
ominous, sinister
Daunt (v)
•
•
•
•
Despite all its inherent
dangers, space flight did
not daunt the Mercury
program astronauts.
To overcome with fear,
intimidate
Synonyms: dismay, cow
Antonyms: encourage,
embolden, reassure
Disentangle (v)
• Rescuers worked for hours
to disentangle a whale
from the fishing net
wrapped around its jaws.
• To free from tangles or
complications
• Synonyms: unravel, unwind,
unscramble, unsnarl
• Antonyms: tangle up,
ensnarl, snag
Fated (adj)
• The tragic outcome of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet is fated from the
play’s very first scene.
• Determined in advance by
destiny or fortune
• Synonyms: destined,
preordained, doomed
• Antonyms: accidental,
fortuitous, chance, random
Hoodwink (v)
• Many sweepstakes
offers hoodwink
people into thinking
they have already won
big prizes.
• To mislead by a trick,
deceive
• Synonyms: dupe, put
one over one
• Antonyms: undeceive,
disabuse, clue in
Inanimate (v)
• Although fossils are
inanimate, they hold many
clues to life on Earth
millions of years ago.
• Not having life; without
energy or spirit
• Synonyms: lifeless, dead,
inert, spiritless
• Antonyms: living, alive,
energetic, lively, sprightly
Incinerate (v)
• Because of
environmental
concerns, many cities
and towns no longer
incinerate their
garbage.
• To burn to ashes;
cremate
• Synonyms: burn up,
cremate, reduce to
ashes
Intrepid (adj)
• Intrepid Polynesian sailors
in outrigger canoes were
the first humans to reach
the Hawaiian Islands.
• Very brave, fearless
• Synonyms: valiant,
courageous, audacious,
daring
• Antonyms: timid, cowardly,
craven, pusillanimous
Larceny (n)
• Someone who steals
property that is worth
thousands of dollars
commits grand larceny.
• Theft, robbery
• Synonyms: stealing,
robbery, burglary
Pliant (adj)
• The pliant branches of the
sapling sagged but did not
break under the weight of
the heavy snow.
• Bending easily; easily
influenced
• Synonyms: supple, flexible,
elastic, plastic
• Antonyms: rigid, stiff,
inflexible, set in stone
Pompous (adj)
• Political cartoonists like
nothing more than to mock
pompous public officials.
• Overly self-important in
speech and manner;
pretentious
• Synonyms: pretentious,
highfalutin, bombastic
• Antonyms: unpretentious,
unaffected, plain
Precipice (n)
• During the Cuban missile
crisis, the world hovered
on the precipice of nuclear
war.
• A very steep cliff; the
brink or edge of disaster
• Synonyms: cliff, crag,
bluff, promontory, ledge
• Antonyms: abyss, chasm,
gorge
Prototype (n)
• A functional prototype of
the device was
demonstrated at the
conclusion of the project.
• The first form of
something new, made
before it is produced in
large quantities more…; the
first or most typical
example of something
• Synonyms: example, sample
• Antonyms: copy
Rectify (v)
• The senators debated
a series of measures
designed to rectify
the nation’s trade
imbalance.
• To make right,
correct, remedy
• Synonyms: remedy, set
right
• Antonyms: mess up,
botch, bungle
Reprieve (n, v)
•
•
•
•
A vacation is a kind of
reprieve from the cares
and responsibilities of
everyday life.
A temporary relief or
delay; to grant a
postponement
Synonyms: stay, respite
(n), postpone, delay (v)
Antonym: proceed (v)
Revile (v)
• The enraged King Lear
reviles the daughters who
have cast him out into a
fierce storm.
• To attack with words, call
bad names
• Synonyms: inveigh against,
malign, vilify, denounce
• Antonyms: praise, acclaim,
revere, idolize