Vocabulary Workshop Level F: Unit 11

gauche

(adj.) awkward, lacking in social graces, tactless, clumsy Synonyms: inept, uncouth, maladroit Antonyms: adroit, tactful, diplomatic, politic

palpable

(adj.) capable of being touched or felt; easily seen, heard, or recognized Synonyms: tangible, plain, obvious, manifest Antonyms: intangible, insubstancial

specious

(adj.) deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit Synonyms: deceptively plausible, sophistic, casuistic Antonyms: valid, sound, solid, genuine

censurable

(adj.) deserving of blame or correction Synonyms: blameworthy, discreditable, reprehensible Antonyms: commendable, laudable, meritorious

pernicious

(adj.) extremely harmful; deadly, fatal Synonyms: injurious, deleterious, baleful, noxious Antonyms: harmless, innocuous, salutary, salubrious

corroborate

(v.) to confirm, make more certain, bolster, substantiate, verify Antonyms: refute, contradict, undermine, discredit

denizen

(n.) an inhabitant, resident; one who frequents a place Synonyms: dweller, habitue Antonyms: alien, outsider, foreigner

heresy

(n.)an opinion different from accepted belief; the denial of an idea that is generally held sacred Synonyms: unorthodox, belief, heterodoxy Antonym: orthodoxy

foist

(v.) to impose by fraud; to pass off as worthy or genuine; to bring about by stealth, dishonesty, or coercion Synonyms: pass off, palm off, fob off

inculcate

(v.) to impress on the mind by repetition, teach persistently and earnestly Synonyms: instill, implant, infuse, ingrain, imbue Antonyms: efface, extirpate, root out

sear

(v.) to make or become dry and withered; to char or scorch the surface of; to harden or make unfeeling; to parch, singe

satiate

(v.) to satisfy completely; to fill to excess; (adj.) full, satisfied Synonyms: (v.) surfeit, gorge Antonyms: deprive entirely of

disseminate

(v.) to scatter or spread widely Synonyms: disperse, publicize, broadcast, circulate Antonyms: bring together, concentrate, muster, conceal, hide

perceptive

(adj.) having sympathetic insight or understanding, capable of keen appreciation Synonyms: insightful, discerning, observant Antonyms: dense, obtuse

florid

(adj.) highly colored, reddish; excessively ornate, showy Synonyms: flushed, ruddy, flowery, frilly, flamboyant Antonyms: pale, ashen, pallid, sallow, austere

salient

(adj.) leaping, jumping, or springing forth; prominent, standing out, conspicuous; (n.) a projection or bulge, a land form that projects upward or outward Synonyms: striking, notable, protrusive, obvious Antonyms: inconspicuous, recessive

contingent

(adj.) likely but not certain to happen, possible; dependent on uncertain events or conditions; happening by chance; (n.) a representative group forming part of a larger body Synonyms: conditional, dependent, a detachment Antonyms: commendable, laudable, meritorious

abstemious

(adj.) moderate, sparing (as in eating and drinking), characterized by abstinence and self-discipline Synonyms: temperate, sober, moderate Antonyms: indulgent, immoderate, intemperate

discursive

(adj.) passing aimlessly from one place or subject to another, rambling,roving, nomadic Synonyms: digressive, diffuse, wandering, episodic Antonyms: short and to the point, succinct

dowdy

(adj.) poorly dressed, shabby; lacking smartness and good taste Synonyms: frumpy, tacky, frowsy, drab Antonyms: chic, elegant, fashionable