Unit 6 Vocab

Question 1

Abortive

Answer 1

(adj.) failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose; only partially or imperfectly developed

Synonyms: miscarried, fruitless, premature
Antonyms: cover up, conceal, hush up

Question 2

Bruit

Answer 2

(v.) to spread news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors

Synonyms: noise abroad, broadcast, blazon
Antonyms: cover up, conceal, hush up

Question 3

Contumelious

Answer 3

(adj.) insolent or rude in speech or behavior; insultingly abusive; humiliating

Synonyms: vituperative, scurrilous, excoriating
Antonyms: laudatory, commendatory, deferential

Question 4

Dictum

Answer 4

(n.) a short saying; an authoritative statement

Synonyms: maxim, precept, aphorism, axiom

Question 5

Ensconce

Answer 5

(v.) to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place

Synonyms: nestle, lodge, entrench
Antonyms: unseat, displace, oust

Question 6

Iconoclastic

Answer 6

(adj.) attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions

Synonyms: image-breaking, irreverent, heretical
Antonyms: orthodox, conservative, reverent

Question 7

In media res

Answer 7

(adv.) in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things

Question 8

Internecine

Answer 8

(adj.) mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed

Synonyms: murderous, savage, ruinous
Antonyms: peaceful, harmonious, constructive

Question 9

Maladroit

Answer 9

(adj.) lacking skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgement

Synonyms: inept, awkward, clumsy, gauche
Antonyms: skillful, dexterous, deft, tactful

Question 10

Maudlin

Answer 10

(adj.) excessively or effusively sentimental

Synonyms: mushy, mawkish

Question 11

Modulate

Answer 11

(v.) to change or vary the intensity or pitch; to temper or soften; to regulate, adjust

Synonyms: adapt, moderate

Question 12

Portentous

Answer 12

(adj.) foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self-consciously weighty, pompous

Synonym: foreboding, ominous, pretentious
Antonyms: auspicious, propitious, encouraging

Question 13

Prescience

Answer 13

(n.) knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight

Synonym: foreknowledge
Antonym: hindsight

Question 14

Quid Pro Quo

Answer 14

(n.) something given in exchange of return for something else

Synonyms: swap, trade

Question 15

Salubrious

Answer 15

(adj.) conducive to mental health or well-being; wholesome

Synonyms: beneficial, healthy, invigorating
Antonyms: harmful, unhealthy, deleterious, noxious

Question 16

Saturnalian

Answer 16

(adj.) characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness

Synonyms: dissipated, debauched, origiastic
Antonyms: sedate, prim, decorous, seemly

Question 17

Touchstone

Answer 17

(n.) a means of testing worth or genuineness

Synonyms: criteria, yardstick, benchmark

Question 18

Traumatic

Answer 18

(adj.) so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage

Synonym: jolting
Antonyms: soothing, comforting, agreeable, pleasant

Question 19

Vitiate

Answer 19

(v.) to weaken, debase, or corrupt; to impair the quality or value of

Synonyms: degrade, undermine
Antonyms: purify, fortify, strengthen, enhance

Question 20

Waggish

Answer 20

(adj.) fond of making jokes; characteristic of a joker; playfully humorous or droll

Synonyms: whimsical, jocular
Antonyms: serious, grave, dour, humorless