Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop (Level E), Unit 14
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1.
2.
alacrity
7.
dissonant
əˈlakrədē: (noun) a cheerful readiness; brisk and eager action
ˈdisənənt: (adjective) not in harmony; disagreeing, at odds
syn: promptness, willingness, dispatch, celerity
ant: reluctance, unwillingness, hesitancy
syn: grating, strident, unmelodious, irreconcilable
ant: harmonious, agreeing, euphonious
Neighbors responded with alacrity to the woman's cry for help.
The clamor of dissonant voices could be heard clearly through
the closed doors of the meeting room.
alleviate
8.
droll
əˈlēvēˌāt: (verb) to relieve, make more bearable
drōl: (adjective) amusingly odd
syn: lesson, lighten, allay, mitigate, assuage
syn: comical, humorous, whimsical, zany
ant: humorless, solemn, dour
The doctors and nurses did everything they could to alleviate the
patient's severe pain.
3.
anˈtiTHəsəs: (noun) the direct opposite, a sharp contrast
4.
The hero or heroine of a popular sitcom may be surrounded by a
cast of droll eccentrics.
antithesis
9.
edict
syn: contrary, antipode
ˈēdikt: (noun) an order issued by someone in authority
Discriminatory practicesmay be said to constitute the very
antithesis of our nation's democratic ideals.
syn: command, decree, proclamation
Only in fairy tales can human unhappiness and misery be
banished forever by royal edict.
appall
əˈpôl: (verb) to fill with dismay or horror
10.
syn: shock, stun, stupefy, horrify
ant: please, cheer, gladden, elate, exhilarate
ēˈlo͞osəˌdāt: (verb) to clarify, explain
syn: interpret, expound, explicate
ant: obscure, becloud, muddy, obfuscate
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963
appalled the nation and the world.
5.
The precise meaning of a passage in Middlemarch is sometimes
hard to elucidate.
bellicose
ˈbeləˌkōs: (adjective) warlike in manner or temperament;
quarrelsome
elucidate
11.
laud
lôd: (verb) to praise
syn: aggressive, combative, belligerent
ant: amicable, peaceable, conciliatory, pacific
syn: hail, extol, glorify, exalt
ant: criticize, censure, belittle, disparage
Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy was often driver by a rather
bellicose brand of patriotism.
6.
At the assemble the principal lauded both students and teachers
for the schoolwide improvement in reading scores.
disparage
12.
loll
dəˈsperij: (verb) to belitte, speak slightingly of; to undervalue
läl: (verb) to act in a lazy manner; to lounge; to recline, droop
syn: degrade, decry, run down, underrate
ant: praise, extol, laud, plug
syn: loaf, loiter, sag, dangle
Don't you think voters are getting awfully tired of listening to
politicians disparage their opponents' voting records?
There is nothing I would rather do on a hot, humid summer
afternoon than loll in a hammock under a tree.
13.
loquacious
19.
lōˈkwāSHəs: (adjective) talkative, wordy; fond of talking
vəˈvāSHəs,vīˈvāSHəs: (adjective) lively, sprightly, full of
energy
syn: gossipy, voluble, garrulous, long-winded
ant: silent, reticent, closemouthed, terse, taciturn
syn: spirited, animated, ebullient
ant: dull, spiritless, listless, indolent, languid
My dinner companion was so loquacious that our conversation
quickly turned into a monologue.
14.
magnanimous
maɡˈnanəməs: (adjective) generous in forgiving, above small
meanness
syn: unselfish, charitable, noble, bighearted
ant: petty, selfish, unforgiving, spiteful
The general's victory was so decisive that he could afford to be
magnanimous toward his former enemies.
15.
mandatory
ˈmandəˌtôrē: (adjective) required, obligatory
syn: compulsory, requisite, imperative
ant: optional, voluntary, discretionary
A union contrast may stipulate that members are t0 receive a
mandatory annual cost-of-living increase.
16.
nondescript
ˌnändəˈskript: (adjective) ordinary, not outstanding; not
easily classified
syn: plain, unremarkable, unimpressive
ant: distinctive, remarkable, vivid, prepossessing
Fashion critics judged the designer's clothing like to be
disappointingly nondescript.
17.
phlegmatic
fleɡˈmadik: (adjective) slow-moving, sluggish; unemotional
syn: lethargic, indolent, torpid, stolid, impassive
ant: emotional, sensitive, thin-skinned, excitable
Sloths are such phlegmatic creature that they have earned the
reputation of being the slowest animals on Earth.
18.
rescind
rəˈsind/: (verb) to repeal, cancel
syn: withdraw, revoke, retract, annul, abrogate
ant: affirm, endorse, uphold, ratify
A sitting Congress sometimes rescinds statutes passed by its
predecessors.
vivacious
A vivacious individual will certainly never lack for companions.
20.
whet
(h)wet: (verb) to sharpen, put an edge on; to make keen or eager
syn: hone, excite, stimulate
ant: dull, blunt, deaden, stifle, dampen
In most mystery novels, the first character is designed to whet
your curiosity to find out "who done it."