1. Level E Unit 14
Vocabulary Words

2. 1. Alacrity (n.) a cheerful readiness; brisk and eager action
Neighbors responded with ALACRITY to the woman’s cries for help.
Synonyms: promptness, willingness, dispatch, celerity
Antonyms: reluctance, unwillingness, hesitancy

3. Synonyms: lessen, lighten, allay, mitigate, assuage
2. Alleviate
(v.) to relieve, make more bearable
The doctors and nurses did everything they could do to ALLEVIATE the patient’s severe pain.
Synonyms: lessen, lighten, allay, mitigate, assuage

4. Synonyms: contrary, antipode
3. Antithesis
(n.) the direct opposite, a sharp contrast
Discriminatory practices may be said to constitute the very ANTITHESIS of our nation’s democratic ideals.
Synonyms: contrary, antipode

5. 4. Appall (v.) to fill with dismay or horror
The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 APPALLED the nation and the world.
Synonyms: shock, stun, stupefy, horrify
Antonyms: please, cheer, gladden, elate, exhilarate

6. 5. Bellicose (adj.) warlike in manner or temperament; quarrelsome
Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign policy was driven by a rather BELLICOSE brand of patriotism.
Synonym: aggressive, combative, belligerent
Antonyms: amicable, peaceable, conciliatory, pacific

7. 6. Disparage (v.) to belittle, speak slightingly of; to undervalue
Don’t you think voters are getting awfully tired of listening to politicians DISPARAGE their opponents?
Synonyms: degrade, decry, run down, underrate
Antonyms: praise, extol, laud, plug

8. 7. Dissonant (adj.) not in harmony; disagreeing, at odds
The clamor of DISSONANT voices could be heard clearly though the closed doors of the meeting room.
Synonyms: grating, strident, unmelodious, irreconcilable
Antonyms: harmonious, agreeing, euphonious

9. 8. Droll (adj.) amusingly odd
The hero of a popular sitcom may be surrounded by a cast of DROLL eccentrics.
Synonyms: comical, humorous, whimsical, zany
Antonyms: humorless, solemn, dour

10. Synonyms: command, decree, proclamation
9. Edict
(n.) an order issued by someone in authority
Only in fairy tales can human unhappiness and misery be banished forever by royal EDICT.
Synonyms: command, decree, proclamation

11. 10. Elucidate (v.) to clarify, explain
The precise meaning of a passage in the Bible is sometimes hard to ELUCIDATE.
Synonyms: interpret, expound, explicate
Antonyms: obscure, becloud, muddy, obfuscate

12. 11. Laud
(v.) to praise
At the assembly the principal LAUDED the students for their improved reading scores.
Synonyms: hail, extol, glorify, exalt
Antonyms: criticize, censure, belittle, disparage

13. Synonyms: loaf, loiter, sag, dangle
12. Loll
(v.) to act in a lazy manner; to lounge; to recline, to droop
There is nothing I would rather do on a hot summer day than LOLL in a hammock under the tree.
Synonyms: loaf, loiter, sag, dangle

14. 13. Loquacious (adj.) talkative, wordy; fond of talking
My dinner companion was so LOQUACIOUS that our conversation quickly turned into a monologue.
Synonyms: gossipy, voluble, garrulous, long-winded
Antonyms: silent, reticent, closemouthed, terse, taciturn

15. 14. Magnanimous (adj.) generous in forgiving, above small meanness
The general’s victory was so decisive that he could afford to be MAGNANIMOUS toward his former enemies.
Synonyms: unselfish, charitable, noble, bighearted
Antonyms: petty, selfish, unforgiving, spiteful

16. 15. Mandatory (adj.) required, obligatory
A union contract may stipulate that members are to receive a MANDATORY annual cost of living increase.
Synonyms: compulsory, requisite, imperative
Antonyms: optional, voluntary, discretionary

17. 16. Nondescript
(adj.) ordinary, not outstanding; not easily classified
Fashion critics judged the designer’s fall clothing line to be disappointingly NONDESCRIPT.
Synonyms: plain, unremarkable, unimpressive
Antonyms: distinctive, remarkable, vivid, prepossessing

18. 17. Phlegmatic (adj.) slow-moving, sluggish; unemotional
Sloths are such PHLEGMATIC creatures that they have earned the reputation of being the slowest animals on Earth.
Synonyms: lethargic, indolent, torpid, stolid, impassive
Antonyms: emotional, sensitive, think-skinned, excitable.

19. 18. Rescind (v.) to repeal, cancel
A sitting Congress sometimes RESCINDS statutes passed by its predecessors.
Synonyms: withdraw, revoke, retract, annul, abrogate
Antonyms: affirm, endorse, uphold, ratify

20. 19. Vivacious (adj.) lively, sprightly, full of energy
A VIVACIOUS individual will certainly never lack for companions.
Synonyms: spirited, animated, ebullient
Antonyms: dull, spiritless, listless, indolent, languid

21. 20. Whet (v.) to sharpen, put an edge on; to make keen or eager
In most mystery novels, the first chapter is designed to WHET your curiosity to find out “who done it.”
Synonyms: hone, excite, stimulate
Antonyms: dull, blunt, deaden, stifle, dampen