Vocab Unit 6 Level H Flashcards
Abortive
(adj) failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose; only partially or imperfectly developed
SYN: miscarried, fruitless
ANT: realizes, consummated
Bruit
(v) to spread the news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors
SYN: noise, abroad, blazon
ANT: cover up, hush
Contumelious
(adj) insolent or rude in speech or behavior; insultingly abusive; humiliating
SYN: vituperative, excoriating
ANT: laudatory, commentators, defential
Dictum
(n) a short saying; an authoritative statement
SYN: maxim, precept, aphorism, axiom
Ensconce
(v) to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place
SYN: lodge, entrench
ANT: unseat, oust
Iconoclastic
(adj) attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions
SYN: image-breaking, irreverent, heretical
ANT: conservative, reverent, orthodox
In Media Res
(adv) in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things
Internecine
(adj) mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed
SYN: murderous, savage, ruinous
ANT: peaceful, harmonious, constructive
Maladroit
(adj) lacking in skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgment
SYN: inept, awkward, gauche
ANT: dexterous, deft, tactful
Maudlin
(adj) excessively or effusively sentimental
SYN: mushy, mawkish
Modulate
(v) to change or vary the intensity or pitch; to temper or soften; to regulate, adjust
SYN: adapt, moderate
Portentous
(adj) foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self-consciously weighty, pompous
SYN: foreboding, ominous, pretentious
ANT: auspicious, encouraging, propitious
Prescience
(n) knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight
SYN: foreknowledge
ANT: hindsight
Quid Pro Quo
(n) something given in exchange or return for something else
SYN: swap, trade
Salubrious
(adj) conductive to health or well-being; wholesome
SYN: healthy, invigorating
ANT: harmful, unhealthy, deleterious, noxious
