Senior British Literature: Vocabulary Unit 1
Mrs. Alana Haughaboo
Definitions acquisitive (adj.) able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property
SYNONYMS: greedy, grasping, avaricious, retentive
ANTONYMS: altruistic, unretentive arrogate banal
(v.) to claim or take without right
SYNONYMS: expropriate, usurp, commandeer
ANTONYMS: relinquish, renounce, abdicate, abandon
(adj.) boringly ordinary and lacking in originality; hackneyed, trite, commonplace
SYNONYMS: stale, insipid, hackneyed, trite
ANTONYMS: fresh, novel, original, new belabor (v.) to work on excessively; to thrash soundly
SYNONYMS: overwork carping coherent congeal
(adj.) tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way
(n.) petty, nagging criticism
SYNONYMS: (adj.) nit-picking; caviling
ANTONYMS: (adj.) approving; uncritical
(adj.) holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful
SYNONYMS: connected, unified, consistent, cohesive
ANTONYMS: muddled, chaotic, disjointed
(v.) to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid
SYNONYMS: harden, jell, coagulate, solidify
ANTONYMS: melt, liquefy emulate (v.) to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model
SYNONYMS: copy, mimic, rival, match, measure up to encomium (n.) a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute
SYNONYMS: panegyric, eulogy, commendation
ANTONYMS: condemnation, castigation, criticism eschew (v.) to avoid, shun, keep away from
SYNONYMS: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo
ANTONYMS: embrace, adopt germane (adj.) suitably related to something, especially something being discussed; relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting
SYNONYMS: pertinent
ANTONYMS: irrelevant, extraneous, inappropriate insatiable (adj.) so great or demanding as not to be satisfied
SYNONYMS: unquenchable, ravenous, voracious

intransigent (adj.) refusing to compromise, irreconcilable
SYNONYMS: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate
ANTONYMS: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding invidious (adj.) offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment
SYNONYMS: malicious, spiteful, prejudicial, pejorative
ANTONYMS: complementary, flattering, ameliorative largesse (n.) generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions
SYNONYMS: liberality, munificence, bounty
ANTONYMS: stinginess, miserliness reconnaissance substantiate (v.) to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to
SYNONYMS: verify, confirm, validate, authenticate
ANTONYMS: refute, disprove, invalidate taciturn
(n.) a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination
SYNONYM: scouting expedition
(adj.) habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little
SYNONYMS: tight-lipped, uncommunicative, laconic
ANTONYMS: garrulous, loquacious, prolix, verbose temporize (v.) to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise
SYNONYMS: hedge, dillydally, procrastinate tenable (adj.) capable of being held or defended
SYNONYMS: defensible, justifiable, maintainable
ANTONYMS: indefensible, unjustifiable