Lesson 4-6
BALEFUL (BAIL-full) adj
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 Definition: harmful; menacing
 Sounds like: bale full
 Picture: Gigantic, heavy bales of hay falling from the
sky. One of the bales is about to fall onto someone.
 Synonyms: threatening; malevolent; sinister
 Antonyms: benevolent; promising; favorable
 Other form: balefully (adv.)
 Sentence: A hungry wolf is a baleful sight to
campers.
CONCEDE (kun-SEED) verb
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 Definition: admit reluctantly; yield
 Sounds like: corn seed
 Picture: Two farmers. One, examining something under
a magnifying glass, admits that it is corn seed
 Synonyms: accept; give in; surrender
 Antonym: disagree; defend; reject
 Other form: concession (noun)
 Note: A concession speech is one in which the loser of an
election reluctantly admits that his or her opponent has
won.
 Sentence: The boss had to concede that it was his
assistant’s idea.
SANCTION (SANK-shun) verb
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 Definition: approve; give consent
 Sounds like: sank Shawn
 Picture: You’re rowing a boat out on the lake. Shawn, a man you’ve
hated for eleven years, is rowing his boat on the other side of the lake.
A friend suddenly shows up in the water right next to your boat and
tells you that he just sank Shawn. The friend still holds the drill he
used to bore a hole in the bottom of Shawn’s boat. You pause for a
second, then smile and say, “Good work. I normally don’t like that
kind of behavior, but if you tell me you sank Shawn, I have to
approve.”
 Synonyms: authorize; permit; allow; endorse
 Antonyms: veto; disapprove; oppose
 Opposite Meaning: This is confusing, but as a noun, a “sanction” is an
action taken in order to punish or change another’s behavior. For
example, governments often impose economic sanctions against a
nation they feel is behaving badly.
 Sentence: In full support of the president, Congress sanctioned his use
of military force.
LUCID (LOO-sid) adj.
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 Definition: easy to understand; transparent; clear-thinking
 Sounds like: Lou said
 Picture: A lecture, featuring a speaker named Lou, has
just ended. As members of the audience leave the
auditorium, one of them can be heard to say, “I
understood everything Lou said. It was all so clear.”
 Synonyms: clear; logical; coherent
 Antonyms: confused; unclear; vague
 Other forms: lucidity (noun); lucidly (adv.)
 Sentence: Jerome was surprisingly lucid for someone
who had just fallen on his head.
REBUFF (ree-BUFF) verb
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 Definition: to ignore or reject strongly; snub
 Looks like: re-buff
 Picture: A young woman is waxing and buffing her car
for the third time that day. Without even looking away
from the car, she says to a young man passing by, “No,
John, I can’t go with you tonight. I have to re-buff my car
quite a few more times. Try me again, maybe in
October.”
 Synonyms: refusal; turndown; deny; snub
 Antonyms: accept; approve; welcome
 Sentence: Rebuffed repeatedly, Marcia refused to give up
and was finally hired.
TRITE (TRITE) adj.
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 Definition: overused; common; stale
 Sounds like: trout
 Picture: A trout is the teacher in a “school” of fish. The
students are bored with the teacher’s constant use of
clichés such as, “Remember, class, there are plenty of
other fish in the sea. It’s a great big ocean out there. It’s
sink or swim…
 Synonyms: routine; pedestrian; cliché; corny
 Antonyms: original; fresh; pertinent; new
 Other forms: tritely (adv.); triteness (noun)
 Sentence: Phrases that were once fresh and original now
seem trite and dull.
RECANT (re--CANT) verb

 Definition: To take something back you’ve said; withdraw
a statement or belief
 Sounds like: recount
 Picture: A candidate speaking to supporters on the night
of a close election: “My friends, earlier this evening, I
demanded a recount of the votes. I am now recanting
that request. I do NOT want a recount, and am conceding
defeat. (See CONCEDE)
 Synonyms: rescind; retract; recall
 Antonym: validate; sanction; confirm; acknowledge
 Sentence: Malcom changed his mind and recanted his
original story about the robbery.
INANE (in-NANE) adj.
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 Definition: silly; insignificant
 Looks like: insane (without the “S”)
 Picture: A man reads a letter from his psychiatrist, and
then cries to his wife: “He says, I’m insane!” When he
becomes hysterically upset, she takes the letter and reads
it. “No, it says, ‘inane,’” she tells him. “It’s nothing to
worry about. You’re just being silly.”
 Synonyms: ridiculous; absurd; idiotic; foolish
 Antonym: sensible; realistic; serious; practical
 Other forms: inanity (noun); inanely (adv.)
 Sentence: It’s hard to believe that grown men could argue
over such inane matters.
PETULANCE (PETCH–oo-lence) noun

 Definition: grouchiness
 Sounds like: pet chew Lance
 Picture: Lance has a dog who likes to chew on one of those fake
rawhide bones. The dog chews all day and even in his sleep, and
has been doing this for years. But today, Lance is in a bad mood.
He’s not sure why, but he’s cranky, and his pet is just chewing and
chewing on that bone and it’s getting on his nerves. Finally, Lance
can’t take it anymore: “Would you stop chewing on that stupid
bone? All day and all night for eight years, I’ve been listening to
you chomp on that thing. I’ve been patient, extremely patient, I
think, but I have to tell you that it’s driving me absolutely crazy!”
 Synonyms: bad temper; irritability; bitterness; cynicism
 Antonym: cheerfulness; exuberance; joyfulness; happiness
 Other forms: petulant (adj.); petulantly (adv.)
 Sentence: He felt justified in his petulance, but friends began to
avoid him.
Test time
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Stop right there!!