Honors Humanities
Vocabulary List 11
abjure (v.t.): to renounce or repudiate; to avoid or shun. After narrowly avoiding a serious accident, he abjured all alcoholic beverages.
Synonyms: abandon, forswear, recant
auspicious (adj.): promising success; favored by fortune. The perfect score she received on the first vocabulary quiz was an auspicious sign for the year ahead.
Synonyms: felicitous, opportune, propitious
Antonyms: inopportune, ominous
barren (adj.): sterile; unproductive. No crops would grow on the barren land.
Synonyms: fruitless, impotent, profitless
Antonyms: fecund, fertile, profitable
brine (n.): water saturated with salt. He kept the cucumbers in the brine for six months before judging the pickles to be ready for eating.
celestial (adj.): pertaining to the sky and the stars; heavenly. They spent their evening hours gazing at the celestial wonders.
Synonyms: empyrean, ethereal, transcendental
Antonyms: earthbound, hellish, infernal
chastise (v.t.): to criticize severely; to physically punish. She chastised her son after she found he had been drinking and driving.
Synonyms: berate, castigate, rebuke
compensation (n.): something, such as money, given or received as payment or reparation, as for a service or loss. The only compensation the teacher received for the volunteer work he did for his students was their thanks.
Synonyms: honorarium, remuneration, restitution
deity (n.): a god or goddess. He treated his wife as though she were a deity.
Synonym: divinity
discourse (n.): talk, conversation; a formal lecture or writing. The professor delivered a fascinating discourse on his area of special knowledge.
Synonyms: colloquy, discussion, treatise
(v.i.): to talk; to lecture or write formally. The professor discoursed on his area of special knowledge.
Synonyms: expound, perorate
disdain (v.t.): to treat with contempt; to consider unworthy of notice. Since the student believed he already knew everything, he disdained people who studied.
Synonyms: belittle, despise
Antonyms: admire, esteem
(n.): a feeling of contempt; scorn; haughtiness. Since the student believed he already knew everything, he regarded people who studied with contempt.
Synonyms: antipathy, contumely, hauteur
enmity (n.): deep-seated hatred. The enmity between the warring factions deepened as their conflict continued.
Synonyms: animosity, antipathy, rancor
Antonyms: affinity, fellowship
fen (n.): a marsh or bog. The large fen prevented the settlers from travelling westward.
Synonyms: morass, quagmire, wetland
fortitude (n.): strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage. Her fortitude never wavered despite being confronted with overwhelming odds.
Synonyms: mettle, moxie, valor
Antonyms: cowardice, spinelessness
homage (n.): respect or reverence shown or expressed publicly. The students paid homage to their wonderful teacher.
Synonyms: deference, devotion, obeisance
Antonyms: dishonor, disrespect
odious (adj.): hateful; disgusting. Most people believe cheaters to be odious people.
Synonyms: detestable, execrable, loathsome
Antonyms: agreeable, appealing
oracle (n.): (1) a person who delivers prophecy; a prophecy; (2) a person considered to be a source of wise counsel. His correct prediction of the economic collapse made many people see him as an oracle.
Synonyms: augury, seer
prate (v.i.): to talk excessively and pointlessly. At the sleepover, the nine-year-olds prated all night long.
Synonyms: babble, jabber, prattle
rabble (n.): a disorderly mob; a group of people regarded with contempt. The politician disdained nuanced explanations but instead preferred to make emotional appears to the rabble.
Synonyms: crowd, hoi polloi, proletariat
trifle (n.): something of little value or importance; a small amount. The teacher insisted her students not concern themselves with trifles but instead focus on the big picture.
Synonyms: bagatelle, jot, triviality
(v.i.): to deal with something as if it were of little significance or value; to act, perform, or speak with little seriousness or purpose. He thought they were deeply in love, but she was merely trifling with his affections.
Synonyms: dally, tease, toy
vigilance (n.): alert watchfulness. Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”
Synonyms: circumspection, surveillance, vigil
Antonym: carelessness, laxity, negligence