Vocab List 2 Flashcards
Bane - a cause of great distress or annoyance.
Synonyms: scourge, and ruin.
Antonyms: advantage, and aid
Sentence: My cruel teacher was the bane of my existence.
Bauble - a small, showy trinket or decoration.
Synonyms: trinket, and knickknack
Antonyms: valuable, and possession
Sentence: You didn’t carry that bauble with you for twenty years to sacrifice it now.
Benediction - the utterance or bestowing of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service.
Synonyms: blessing, and prayer
Antonyms: criticism, and affliction
Sentence: Her hands were by her sides, turned out, as if offering benediction for what she had done, as if to say, peace at last.
Benefactor - a person who gives money or other help to a person or cause.
Synonyms: patron, and benefactress
Antonym: recipient, and giftee
Sentence: He founded the university of Jena and was a benefactor to that of Leipzig.
Benevolent - well meaning and kindly.
Synonyms: kind, and warm-hearted
Antonyms: unkind, and tight-fisted
Sentence: The benevolent gentleman left a further sum of $5000 to be divided among the poor.
Benign - gentle; kindly
Synonyms: good natured, and friendly
Antonyms: unfriendly, and hostile
Sentence: Their whole business was to hunt through the older authorities in search of benign decisions.
Bevy - a large group of people or things of a particular kind.
Synonyms: group, and gang
Antonyms: atom, and crumb
Sentence: In hopes of receiving a bevy of presents, Hank invited a lot of people to his birthday party.
Brevity - concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.
Synonyms: conciseness, and shortness
Antonyms: long windedness, and verbosity
Sentence: You did a good job on the brevity of this newsletter this week.
Broach - raise (a sensitive or difficult subject) for discussion.
Synonyms: bring up, and raise
Antonyms: take back, and withdraw
Sentence: So far, she hadn’t found a way to broach the subject with Brandon.
Bureaucracy - a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.
Synonyms: civil service, and administration
Antonyms: non-managerial, and nonsupervisory
Sentence: These honorary justices are mainly recruited from the ranks of the higher bureaucracy and the army.
Candor - the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.
Synonyms: frankness, and openness
Antonyms: guardedness, and insincerity
Sentence: “And now, in token of candor, I ask you to reveal to me your chief passion,” said the latter.
Caricature - a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
Synonyms: cartoon, and parody
Antonyms: flattery, and praise
Sentence: An artist was doing caricatures in the park.
Cartography - the science or practice of drawing maps.
Synonyms: earth science, and geopolitics
Antonyms: ineligibility, and unfitness
Sentence: He introduced a new standard of accuracy in the cartography of ancient Greece.
Caste - each of the hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by relative degrees of ritual purity or pollution and of social status.
Synonyms: social class, and order
Antonyms: anarchy, and disorder
Sentence: Sivaji and his fighting officers were Mahrattas of humble caste, but his ministers were Brahmans.
Catharsis - the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.
Synonyms: purging, and purification
Antonyms: repression, and un renewed
Sentence: Emotional catharsis is an important factor in a person’s well-being.
