Vocabulary Unit: 8 (Choosing the Right Word)

There is often a thin line between the kind of debate that is spiritual and useful and that which is (acrimonious, hypothetical) an nonproductive.

acrimonious

Their (bovine, susceptible) stares and obvious inability to understand the seriousness of the situation made me doubt their mental capacity.

bovine

Imagine our (consternation, dissension) when the brakes failed, and we headed full speed toward the busy intersection!

consternation

The immediate success of my book caused great (perfidy, consternation) to my sister, who thinks she is the writer in the family.

consternation

Not too long ago in our society, a (corpulent,bovine) body was generally admired as a sign of prosperity and physical vigor.

corpulent

The prisoner attempted to (disavow, dissipate) his confession on the grounds that he had not been informed of his legal rights.

disavow

Try your best to subdue your natural reluctance and make a (squeamish, dispassionate) decision that will be in your son's best interest.

dispassionate

A certain amount of disagreement is healthy in any organization, but in our club (dissension, perfidy) has almost become a way of life.

dissension

The (Consternation, dissension) between Athena and Poseidon led to a contest between the two immortals, in which they bestowed gifts to the Athenians.

dissension

After the sun set, red and purple hues lingered in the sky for several minutes before the colors (relegated dissipated.).

dissipated

The estate he had inherited from his father was (dissipated, disavowed) in a long series of impractical and/or mismanaged business enterprises.

dissipated

If we are going to be required to perform a(n) (relegated expurgated) version of the play, then I think it is not worth doing.

expurgated

The retiring coach said he no longer had the stomach to run the (gauntlet, odium) of critics who assailed him after every loss.

gauntlet

By referent to (ignoble, hypothetical) cases, you may be able to clarify the difference between "murder" and "manslaughter" for the law students.

hypothetical

I always look for the exit signs in a theater because, (hypothetically, intemperately) speaking, one should always be prepared to act in an emergency.

hypothetically

Far from being (ignoble, dispassionate), her failure after making a valiant effort may serve as an inspiration to young people.

ignoble

It is not for me to (expurgate, impugn) his motives, but how could anyone, except an overambitious scoundrel, have misled his friend in that way?

impugn

Though I was annoyed by the child's behavior, the father's outburst of anger seemed to me deplorably (intemperate, bovine)

intemperate

My Spanish friend finds it hard to understand the (odium, perfidy) attached to bullfighting in most non-Hispanic countries.

odium

Aren't you going a little far when you accuse me of (consternation, perfidy) because I didn't vote for you in the beauty contest?

perfidy

When Mr. Krummer saw my pathetically inept efforts to prepare a banana split, I was (impugned, relegated) to the ranks of the unemployed.

relegated

I am not ordinarily a (corpulent, squeamish) person, but the sight of that terrible automobile accident haunted me for weeks.

squeamish

I refuse to ride a roller coaster; fast rides make me (squeamish, acrimonious).

squeamish

I noticed with some distaste how her usually overbearing manner became (susceptible, subservient) when our employer joined the group.

subservient

Students who have been well trained in the social sciences should not be (susceptible, ignoble) to the cheap fallacies of racism.

susceptible