Unit 9 9 Honors

Affable Adjective Easy to talk to; friendly Synonym: welcoming The affable student was able to make friends quickly because of his outgoing nature.

Aptitude Noun A capacity for learning; natural ability Synonym: capability Scott’s natural aptitude for math helped me to succeed in many upper-level math courses.

Blight Noun A disease in plants; anything that injures or destroys something Synonym: affliction The early frost was a blight on the tomato plants.

Coerce Verb To force someone to do or not do something Synonym: to pressure The police officer tried to coerce the suspect to confess his whereabouts from the previous night.

Covert Adjective Secret; hidden Synonym: private Criminals often wait for dark before engaging in covert activities.

Discriminate Verb To notice or point out the difference between two or more things Synonym: to differentiate The wine connoisseur was able to discriminate which wines came from which area of France.

Exacerbate Verb To make worse Synonym: aggravate The minor traffic accident was exacerbated when another car ran the red light and smashed into the other cars.

Futile Adjective Useless; hopeless Synonym: pointless Though Harold tried to study his notes for the big exam, his efforts were futile because he had never bothered to take a single note.

Incisive Adjective Intelligently analytical and clear-thinking Synonym: perceptive; discerning During the class’s debate, Mark was quiet until the end, when he offered a series of incisive remarks that completely changed the class’s mindset.

Latent Adjective Present but not visible or apparent Synonym: undiscovered When Sally finally began to apply herself, she realized that she had a latent talent for painting with watercolors.

Moribund Adjective Dying Synonym: terminal The auto industry, which used to thrive in Detroit, is now moribund, though efforts are being made to revive the auto industry in the US.

Patrician Noun A person of noble birth; an aristocrat Synonym: nobleman Monsieur the Marquis believed that, as a patrician, he was more important than the citizens of St. Antoine.

Prodigious Adjective Extraordinary; enormous Synonym: tremendous The little boy caught a prodigious fish; he could barely reel it in.

Reproach Verb To scold, usually in disappointment; to blame Synonym: disgrace The police officer reproached the man for not renewing his registration.

Stagnation Noun Motionlessness; inactivity Synonym: sluggishness The company suffered from stagnation, and it eventually went out of business.