1. Focus on the goal. Voc. Unit 5 Ms. B. Wulchak

2. By Corey Graves 2009 Revised 2010
Vocabulary Unit 5
By Corey Graves 2009
Revised 2010

3. Acuity (n.) Sharpness (particularly of the mind or senses)
Synonyms: keenness, acuteness
Antonyms: dullness, obtuseness
I read the eye chart
so the doctor could
determine my visual
acuity.

4. Delineate (v.)
To portray, sketch, or describe in accurate and vivid detail; to represent pictorially
Synonyms: depict, picture, render
She clearly delineated how to number the test paper’s answer sheet.
The handbook delineates the school rules.

5. Depraved (adj.)
Marked by evil and corruption, devoid of moral principles
Synonyms: perverted, degenerate, vicious, corrupt
There are 17 known victims of depraved serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. He was sentenced in 1992 to 957 yrs., but was beaten to death in prison.

6. Enervate (v.) To weaken or lessen the
mental, moral, or physical vigor of
Synonyms: impair, cripple, paralyze
Antonyms: invigorate, strengthen, buttress
The boy was enervated by catching chicken pox.

7. Esoteric (adj.)
Intended for or understood by only a select few; private, secret
Synonyms: occult, cryptic, arcane, recondite
Antonyms: accessible, comprehensible, intelligible
Only a select group will appreciate the esoteric subject of philosophy, which studies existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language.

8. Fecund (adj.)
Fruitful in offspring or vegetation; intellectually productive.
Synonyms: fertile, teeming, prolific
Antonyms: infertile, barren, unproductive
His mind is so fecund that it is hard to know what he will come up with next.

9. Fiat (n.)
An arbitrary order or decree; a command or act of will or consciousness
Synonyms: edict, dictum, ukase
The Soviet-Eastern Bloc countries have rejected government by fiat and are moving toward democratic rule.

10. Figment (n.) A fabrication of the mind; an arbitrary notion
Synonyms: creation, invention, fancy
A highway mirage is classified as an inferior mirage which can be seen very commonly on roadways by day or by night. Is it a figment of your imagination?

11. Garner (v.)
To acquire as the result of effort; to gather and store away, as for future use.
Synonyms: collect, accumulate, accrue
Antonyms: scatter, squander, waste, dissipate
Garner all the experience and knowledge you can while you’re young.

12. Hallow (v.)
To set apart as holy or sacred, sanctify, consecrate; to honor greatly, revere
Synonyms: venerate, bless
Antonyms: desecrate, defile, profane
President Lincoln set the battlefield of Gettysburg, PA, apart to be hallowed ground for the brave men who died so that our nation would remain whole.

13. Idiosyncrasy (n.)
A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify.
Synonyms: eccentricity, quirk, mannerism
His idiosyncrasy is wanting to live in an oddly remote and dangerous place.

14. Ignominy (n.) Shame and disgrace
Synonyms: dishonor, humiliation, disrepute, odium
Antonyms: honor, glory, acclaim
When famous people act inappropriately, they suffer the public ignominy of becoming headline news.
Sanford’s Affair Revives Old Question: Are Male Politicians More Prone to Infidelity?

15. Mundane (adj.)
Earthly, worldly, relating to practical and material affairs; concerned with what is ordinary.
Synonyms: prosaic, humdrum, routine, sublunary
Antonyms: heavenly, unworldly, spiritual, transcendental
Rather than choosing to go
to the Prom, we chose the mundane type of date—
dinner and a movie.

16. Nuance (n.)
A subtle or slight variation ( as in color, meaning, quality), delicate gradation or shade of difference.
Synonyms: shade, nicety, refinement
We can detect just a nuance of difference in the shades of colors.

17. Overweening (adj.) Conceited, presumptuous; excessive, immoderate
Synonyms: arrogant, unbridled,
inflated, overbearing
Antonyms: restrained,
understated, modest, meek
When someone is just driving
you crazy with their overweening arrogance, you might ask them, very politely, "May I ask how you became such an expert on this subject? Did you study? Did you learn this from having a bad experience?"

18. Penchant (n.) A strong attraction or inclination, tendency
Synonyms: proclivity, propensity, predilection
Antonyms: disinclination, aversion
Last night I was telling a joke, and I really put my foot in my mouth. I have a penchant for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

19. Reputed (adj.)
According to reputation or general belief; having widespread acceptance and good reputation; (part.) alleged
Synonyms: putative, supposed
Antonyms: proven, corroborated, authenticated
It is reputed that he was the head of the world’s largest drug cartel.
CNN reports top drug trafficker Beltran Leyva killed

20. Sophistry (n.) (n.) clever, but unsound reasoning
that seems plausible; a fallacy
Synonym: specious reasoning
meant to mislead
A Dept. of the Interior policy
that will let loose the chain saws
of the timber corporations upon
our national forests is dubbed
“healthy forests.” Another policy
which allows increased power plant
emissions into the atmosphere is
called the “Clear Skies Initiative.”

21. Sumptuous (adj.) Costly, rich, magnificent
Synonyms: lavish, munificent, opulent, splendid
Antonyms: skimpy, meager, stingy
We stayed in a sumptuous condo
for the week.

22. Ubiquitous (adj.) Present or existing everywhere
Synonyms: omnipresent, pervasive, universal
Antonyms: restricted, limited, rare, scarce
Billboards and signs are ubiquitous.
A quote of Ogden Nash:
I think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I’ll never see a tree at all.

23. Emend (v.) (add-on) To correct, revise LOCAL WEATHER
Tonight’s forecast: Cloudy with a chance of rain Highs 55 to Precipitation: None One year ago today: High 51. Low Record high: 86 (1957). Record low: 23 (1956) Sunset today: 7:55 p.m. Sunrise tomorrow: None.
As seen on Jay Leno’s Headline News (Oh, no!!)

24. Malediction (n.) (add-on)
(n. often pl.) An expression of hatred, a curse
Synonyms: slander, defamation, denunciation, ill wishes
During the Middle Ages, the cruel maledictions brought by inquisitions and crusades persecuted religions and beliefs of those living in Europe.