VOCABULARY UNIT 8
Mrs. Frazee
PENSIVE
The child sat by herself, looking pensive.
 Rainy days often put her in a pensive mood.

PENSIVE
Adjective
 meditative, solemn, musingly or dreamily
thoughtful
 suggestive of sad thoughtfulness
Synonyms: dreamy, pondering,
preoccupied, reflecting, serious, thinking,
withdrawn
 Antonyms: ignorant, shallow

PREROGATIVE
If you'd rather sell the tickets than use them,
that's your prerogative .
 It's a writer's prerogative to decide the fate
of her characters.

PREROGATIVE





Noun
an exclusive or special right, power, or
privilege: as (1) : one belonging to an office
or an official body (2) : one belonging to a
person, group, or class of individuals (3) :
one possessed by a nation as an attribute of
sovereignty
Right, Privilege
Synonyms: advantage, authority, birthright,
immunity, liberty, sanction, title
Antonyms: Obligation, duty
CASTE
 He
was from a higher caste.
 The King is a member of the upper
caste.
CASTE
Noun
 Social Class
 a division of society based on differences of
wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession,
occupation, or race, the position conferred
by caste standing : prestige


Synonyms: cultural level, degree, grade,
lineage, order, position, race, rank, social
order, status
AFFLICTION
She lost her sight and is now learning to live
with her affliction.
 He died from a mysterious affliction.

AFFLICTION






Noun
hurt condition; something that causes hurt
the cause of persistent pain or distress
great suffering
Synonyms: depression, difficulty, disease, disorder,
distress, grief, hardship, misery, misfortune, sickness,
sorrow, suffering, torment, trial, trouble
Antonyms: aid, comfort, consolation, help, relief
APPRECIABLE
THE INJURED WOMAN LOST AN APPRECIABLE AMOUNT
OF BLOOD BEFORE THE PARAMEDICS ARRIVED.
APPRECIABLE
Adjective
 Sufficient to be noticed or
measured

Synonyms: perceptible,
detectable, considerable
 Antonyms: slight, trivial,
inconsequential

BLASPHEMY
GALILEO WAS ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY FOR
ASSERTING THAT THE SUN, AND NOT THE EARTH,
IS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.
BLASPHEMY
Noun
 An act, utterance, or writing
showing contempt for something
sacred

Synonyms: curse, profanity,
sacrilege
 Antonyms: reverence, devotion,
respect

BRAWNY
IN ARTHURIAN LEGEND, ONE BRAWNY KNIGHT
AFTER ANOTHER TRIES TO PULL THE SWORD
EXCALIBUR FROM THE STONE, BUT NO ONE
SUCCEEDS.
BRAWNY
Adjective
 Strong, muscular

Synonyms: broad-shouldered, strapping, husky,
burly
 Antonyms: slight, frail, delicate, puny

WILY
THE FUR TRAPPERS OF COLONIAL NORTH
AMERICA WERE KNOWN TO BE WILY TRADERS.
WILY
Adjective
 Sly, shrewd, cunning

Synonyms: clever, tricky, artful, cagey
 Antonyms: dull-witted, dense, straightforward

CURMUDGEON
THE OLD MAN WHO LIVED ON THE CORNER WAS
WIDELY VIEWED AS A CURMUDGEON WHO NEVER
HAD ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT HIS NEIGHBORS.
CURMUDGEON
Noun
 A bad tempered or surly person

Synonyms: cranky, grouch, fusser, sourpuss
 Antonyms: optimist, Pollyanna, happy-camper

BUOYANT
WE WERE WEARY AND ANXIOUS TO GET HOME, BUT
OUR FRIEND’S BUOYANT SPIRITS KEPT US GOING.
BUOYANT
Adjective
 Able to float easily; able to hold things
up; cheerful, hopeful

Synonyms: lighthearted, animated
 Antonyms: downcast, depressed,
gloomy

ENRICHED ENGLISH
SYNTHETIC
SOMETIMES ONLY A JEWELER CAN DETECT THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN EXPENSIVE SYNTHETIC
GEM AND A NATURAL STONE.
NYLON, RAYON, AND POLYESTER ARE ALL
SYNTHETICS THAT HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED THE
CLOTHING INDUSTRY.
SYNTHETIC
Adjective
 Made or put together by people;
 Noun
 Something artificial

Synonym: (adj.) artificial
 Antonyms: (adj.) natural, genuine

VINDICATE
THOUGH THE ACCUSED WAS VINDICATED IN THE
END, HIS CAREER WAS ALL BUT RUINED BY THE
ALLEGATIONS.
VINDICATE
 Verb
 To
clear from hint or charge of
wrongdoing; to defend successfully
against opposition; to justify
 Synonyms:
advocate, exonerate, acquit
 Antonyms: convict, condemn
ELUSIVE
The truth may prove elusive.
 The giant squid is one of the ocean's most
elusive inhabitants.
 But for all their influence, D.C. lobbyists have
failed to attain one elusive goal: public
respect.

ELUSIVE
Adjective
 tending to elude: evasive, mysterious
 tending to evade grasp or pursuit
 hard to comprehend or define: hard
to isolate or identify

Synonyms: ambiguous, baffling,
difficult to catch, imponderable,
incomprehensible, intangible,
misleading, puzzling, shifty, shy,
slippery
 Antonyms: attracting, confronting,
encountering, enticing, facing,
inviting

RUDIMENTARY
THOUGH SHE HAD READ SEVERAL BOOKS
ON QUANTUM PHYSICS, SHE STILL HAD
ONLY A RUDIMENTARY GRASP ON THE
SUBJECT.
RUDIMENTARY
 Adjective
 Involving
or limited to basic
principles; Immature,
undeveloped, or basic.
 Synonyms:
elementary, basic,
primitive, primary
 Antonyms: : additional, advanced,
developed, extra, nonessential
SUBVERSIVE
THE UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT
CIRCULATED SUBVERSIVE
PAMPHLETS THAT CRITICIZED
THE GOVERNMENT.
THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS
ENACTED IN 1798 GAVE THE
U.S. PRESIDENT THE POWER TO
DEPORT ANY NONCITIZEN
DEEMED SUBVERSIVE.
SUBVERSIVE
Adjective
 Intended to undermine or overthrow
 Noun
 One who advocates or attempts to undermine a
political system

Synonyms: (adj.)treasonous, traitor (n.) a
revolutionary
 Antonyms: (adj.) patriotic, loyal, true-blue
