1. Vocabulary 14A

2. Alacrity (n.) a cheerful readiness; brisk and eager action
S: promptness, willingness, dispatch, celerity
A: reluctance, unwillingness, hesitancy
Neighbors responded with alacrity to the woman’s cried for help.

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

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

5. Appall (v.) to fill with dismay or horror
S: shock, stun, stupefy, horrify
A: please, cheer, gladden, elate, exhilarate
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 appalled the nation and the world.

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

7. Disparage (v.) to belittle, speak slightingly of; to undervalue
S: degrade, decry, run down, underrate
A: praise, extol, laud, plug
Don’t you think voters are getting awfully tired of listening to politician’s disparage their opponents’ voting records?

8. Dissonant (adj.) not in harmony; disagreeing, at odds
S: grating, strident, unmelodious, irreconcilable
A: harmonious, agreeing, euphonious
The clamor of dissonant voices could be heard clearly through the closed doors of the meeting room.

9. Droll (adj.) amusingly odd S: comical, humorous, whimsical, zany
A: humorless, solemn, dour
The hero or heroine of a popular sitcom may be surrounded by a cast of droll eccentrics.

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

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