Vocabulary Unit 4

Level D

Abscond (v)• The thieves who

absconded with several of the museum’s most valuable paintings have never been found.

• To run off and hide• Synonyms: bolt,

make off, skip town

Access (n)• You need a password

in order to access your email accounts.

• Admittance to places, persons, things; to obtain

• Synonyms: entry, admittance, entrée

• Antonyms: total exclusion

Anarchy (n)• In the final days of a

war, civilians may find themselves living in anarchy.

• A lack of government and law; confusion

• Synonyms: chaos, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium

• Antonyms: law and order, peace and quiet

Arduous (adj)• No matter how carefully

you plan for it, moving to a new home is an arduous chore.

• Hard to do, requiring much effort; difficult, laborious

• Synonyms: hard, difficult, laborious, fatiguing

• Antonyms: easy, simple, effortless

Auspicious (adj)• My parents describe

the day that they first met as a most auspicious occasion.

• Favorable, fortunate• Synonyms: promising,

encouraging, propitious

• Antonyms: ill-omened, ominous, sinister

Daunt (v)• Despite all its inherent

dangers, space flight did not daunt the Mercury program astronauts.

• To overcome with fear, intimidate

• Synonyms: dismay, cow• Antonyms: encourage,

embolden, reassure

Disentangle (v)• Rescuers worked for

hours to disentangle a whale from the fishing net wrapped around its jaws.

• To free from tangles or complications

• Synonyms: unravel, unwind, unscramble, unsnarl

• Antonyms: tangle up, ensnarl, snag

Fated (adj)• The tragic outcome of

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is fated from the play’s very first scene.

• Determined in advance by destiny or fortune

• Synonyms: destined, preordained, doomed

• Antonyms: accidental, fortuitous, chance, random

Hoodwink (v)• Many sweepstakes

offers hoodwink people into thinking they have already won big prizes.

• To mislead by a trick, deceive

• Synonyms: dupe, put one over one

• Antonyms: undeceive, disabuse, clue in

Inanimate (v)• Although fossils are

inanimate, they hold many clues to life on Earth millions of years ago.

• Not having life; without energy or spirit

• Synonyms: lifeless, dead, inert, spiritless

• Antonyms: living, alive, energetic, lively, sprightly

Incinerate (v)• Because of

environmental concerns, many cities and towns no longer incinerate their garbage.

• To burn to ashes; cremate

• Synonyms: burn up, cremate, reduce to ashes

Intrepid (adj)• Intrepid Polynesian

sailors in outrigger canoes were the first humans to reach the Hawaiian Islands.

• Very brave, fearless • Synonyms: valiant,

courageous, audacious, daring

• Antonyms: timid, cowardly, craven, pusillanimous

Larceny (n)

• Someone who steals property that is worth thousands of dollars commits grand larceny.

• Theft, robbery• Synonyms: stealing,

robbery, burglary

Pliant (adj)• The pliant branches of the

sapling sagged but did not break under the weight of the heavy snow.

• Bending easily; easily influenced

• Synonyms: supple, flexible, elastic, plastic

• Antonyms: rigid, stiff, inflexible, set in stone

Pompous (adj)• Political cartoonists like

nothing more than to mock pompous public officials.

• Overly self-important in speech and manner; pretentious

• Synonyms: pretentious, highfalutin, bombastic

• Antonyms: unpretentious, unaffected, plain

Precipice (n)• During the Cuban missile

crisis, the world hovered on the precipice of nuclear war.

• A very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster

• Synonyms: cliff, crag, bluff, promontory, ledge

• Antonyms: abyss, chasm, gorge

Prototype (n)• A functional prototype

of the device was demonstrated at the conclusion of the project.

• The first form of something new, made before it is produced in large quantities more…; the first or most typical example of something

• Synonyms: example, sample

• Antonyms: copy

Rectify (v)• The senators debated

a series of measures designed to rectify the nation’s trade imbalance.

• To make right, correct, remedy

• Synonyms: remedy, set right

• Antonyms: mess up, botch, bungle

Reprieve (n, v)• A vacation is a kind of

reprieve from the cares and responsibilities of everyday life.

• A temporary relief or delay; to grant a postponement

• Synonyms: stay, respite (n), postpone, delay (v)

• Antonym: proceed (v)

Revile (v)• The enraged King Lear

reviles the daughters who have cast him out into a fierce storm.

• To attack with words, call bad names

• Synonyms: inveigh against, malign, vilify, denounce

• Antonyms: praise, acclaim, revere, idolize