Day 1 - Vocabulary List
ambivalent
DEFINITION: contradictory, having mixed feelings
SENTENCE: The new Hogwarts first-year was ambivalent about whether she enjoyed potions or
transfiguration more.
SYNONYMS: uncertain, unsure, wavering
ANTONYMS: resolute, definite, clear contradictory, having mixed feelings
anomaly
DEFINITION: deviation from the norm, something that is atypical (not normal)
SENTENCE: Mr. Dursley noticed several strange anomalies, like a cat reading a map, on Privet Drive.
SYNONYMS: oddity, deviation, inconsistency
ANTONYMS: normality, conformity, sameness
sarcastic and sardonic
DEFINITION: mocking, derisive, taunting, stinging
SENTENCE: A witty writer once wrote the sardonic statements: "Sir, you are a drunk." "Well, Madame,
you are ugly. In the morning I shall be sober, and you will still be ugly."
SYNONYMS: acerbic, biting, smart-alecky
ANTONYMS: complimentary, respectful, pleasant
dearth and paucity
DEFINITION: a scarcity or shortage of something
SENTENCE: A study by USA Today revealed that college football teams have a dearth of minority
coaches: just 9 of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision universities have minority coaches. There is also a
paucity of minority coordinators: the investigation found that just 39 of the 261 coordinators are minorities.
SYNONYMS: insufficiency, lacking, deficiency
ANTONYMS: abundance, excess, plenty
prattle
DEFINITION: to speak in a foolish manner; to babble incessantly
SENTENCE: The crazy man prattled on and on about the merits of buying canned corn versus fresh corn
in the supermarket.
SYNONYMS: chatter, mutter, jabber
ANTONYMS: articulate, eloquent
wry
DEFINITION: dry, humorous with a clever twist and a touch of irony
SENTENCE: Alyssa's wry sense of humor made her esoteric to most but highly entertaining to the highly
intellectual.
SYNONYMS: witty, droll, amusing
ANTONYMS: formal, grave, serious
unconventional and unorthodox
DEFINITION: not ordinary or typical; avoiding customary conventions and behaviors
SENTENCE: It was highly unconventional for the KAA students to dislike the Socratic Summer Academy
camp.
SYNONYMS: different, eccentric, nonconformist
ANTONYMS: traditional, conformist, conventional
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Day 1 - Vocabulary List
painstaking and meticulous
DEFINITION: extremely careful; very exacting
SENTENCE: After the destructive incident, experts meticulously gathered each broken fragment and
painstakingly restored Michelangelo's Pieta.
SYNONYMS: thorough, exacting, conscientious
ANTONYMS: careless, cursory, sloppy
audacious
DEFINITION: fearlessly, often recklessly daring; very bold
SENTENCE: Both Japan and the United States launched audacious surprise attacks on unsuspecting
adversaries: Japan with Pearl Harbor and the USA with the Christmas Day attack in 1776.
SYNONYMS: brave, courageous, valiant
ANTONYMS: meek, timid, docile
indifferent and apathetic
DEFINITION: marked by a lack of interest or concern
SENTENCE: The apathetic bird does not get the worm.
SYNONYMS: unconcerned, neutral, blase
ANTONYMS: opinionated, concerned, biased
diffident
DEFINITION: lacking self-confidence; self-effacing; not assertiveSENTENCE: Peter Parker was originally very diffident, but he was able to overcome his diffidence to
become Spider-Man.
SYNONYMS: shy, bashful, reserved
ANTONYMS: outspoken, outgoing, confident
pragmatic
DEFINITION: practical; sensible; not idealistic or romantic
SENTENCE: Protestant King Henry IV made a pragmatic decision to resolve a crisis by choosing to
become Catholic for his Catholic-dominated country.
SYNONYMS: realistic, utilitarian, efficient
ANTONYMS: idealistic, impractical, insensible
evocation
DEFINITION: an imaginative re-creation
SENTENCE: The treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamen are evocations of the power and splendor of
Ancient Egypt.
presumptuous
DEFINITION: overbearing; impertinently bold; characterized by brashly overstepping one's place
SENTENCE: When Max started being presumptuous about his knowledge of how to run camps, Alyssa
smacked him.
SYNONYMS: arrogant, pompous, smug
ANTONYMS: humble, modest, submissive
recalcitrant
DEFINITION: stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance; obstinate; obdurate
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Day 1 - Vocabulary List
SENTENCE: In Amy Winehouse's song "Rehab", her friends and family all beg her to go to rehab, but
she is recalcitrant and declares, "No, no, no."
SYNONYMS: rebellious, obstinate, resistant
ANTONYMS: passive, obedient, agreeable
boon
DEFINITION: a timely benefit; blessing
SENTENCE: Harry Potter's late enrollment in Slughorn's potion class turned out to be a boon when
Slughorn offered him a tattered potions book with all the answers in it.
SYNONYMS: advantage, perk, benefit
ANTONYMS: handicap, harm, hinderance
bane
DEFINITION: a source of harm and ruin
SENTENCE: Professor Snape is the bane of Harry Potter's existence.
SYNONYMS: nuisance, torment, curse
ANTONYMS: boon, fortune, blessing
clandestine and surreptitious
DEFINITION: secret; covert; not open; not aboveboard
SENTENCE: Dumbledore's Army was a clandestine group that conducted surreptitious activity, secretly
teaching students how to defend themselves.
SYNONYMS: concealed, hidden, stealthy
ANTONYMS: overt, forthright, direct
"affable, amiable, genial, gregarious"
DEFINITION: agreeable; marked by a pleasing personality; warm and friendly
SENTENCE: The minions are mischievous but gregarious little creatures.
SYNONYMS: amenable, sociable, charming
ANTONYMS: disagreeable, hostile, irritable
confounded
DEFINITION: puzzled; confused; bewildered; very perplexed; mystified
SENTENCE: In "The Hangover," three confounded friends try to find their missing friend Doug after a
crazy night in Las Vegas.
SYNONYMS: befuddled, baffled, dazed
ANTONYMS: certain, cognizant, sure
prodigious
DEFINITION: huge; massive; enormous
SENTENCE: The genie turned himself into a prodigious elephant so that Aladdin could parade through
the streets.
SYNONYMS: gigantic, colossal, monumental
ANTONYMS: tiny, small, little
ambiguous
DEFINITION: unclear; uncertain; open to more than one definition; not definitive
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Day 1 - Vocabulary List
SENTENCE: The ambiguous nature of romance makes dating very confusing sometimes.
SYNONYMS: vague, cloudy, questionable
ANTONYMS: clear, definite, explicit
reproach
DEFINITION: to express disapproval; scold; rebuke; censure
SENTENCE: The young boy was reproached for setting ants on fire with a magnifying glass.
SYNONYMS: admonish, scorn, denounce
ANTONYMS: praise, compliment, laud
nostalgia
a sentimental longing for the past
DEFINITION: a sentimental longing for the past
SENTENCE: Whenever kids born in the 1990's experience nostalgia, they turn to Pokemon, boy bands,
and fruit gushers.
SYNONYMS: fond memories, reminiscence, sentimentality
ANTONYMS: hating the past, modern, avant-garde
conjecture
DEFINITION: an inference based upon guesswork; a supposition
SENTENCE: Scientists have offered a number of conjectures to explain why the Age of Dinosaurs came
to an abrupt end.
SYNONYMS: guess, hypothesize, theorize
ANTONYMS: hard evidence, scientific fact, empirical
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