Weekly Words

The following are words that are “common” vocabulary used in everyday writing, reading, and speaking. It is important that you internalize words you may not be familiar with in order to build your vocabulary skills. Find interesting ways to use these words so they become part of you.

Acrimonious• Acrimonious Adjective• Bitter or sarcastic in

temper, manner or tone•

This book is an acrimonious attack on the present administration.

Synonyms: horrible, negative, badAntonyms: nice, good, positiveDerivatives: acrimoniously, acrimoniousness

Acumen• Acumen (noun)• Keenness of mind

or judgment• She shows great

acumen as a businesswoman.

Synonyms: wise, intellectual, sagacious, cleverAntonyms: unwiseDerivatives: acumenicle acumenically ?????

Affinity• Affinity Noun A

natural attraction or liking

• The young couple had a great affinity for each other.

Synonyms: affection, fondness, connectionAntonyms: dislike, aversionDerivatives: affinities, affinity (adj)

Apathy• Apathy (noun)• A lack of interest,

concern, or desire to act

• He views his current grades with a great degree of apathy.

Synonyms:Antonyms:Derivatives:

Capricious Adjective

• Tending to change suddenly, unexpectedly, and for no apparent reason, unpredictable

• ble.

Synonyms: moody, unpredictableAntonyms: predictable, emotionless, happyDerivatives: capriciously, capriciousness

CognizantAdjective

• Aware

After his injury, the man was barely cognizant of his surroundings.Synonyms: mindful, knowledgeable, consciousAntonyms: unaware, confused, dazed, obliviousDerivatives: cognizantly

• Adjective

Stating opinions or beliefs in a positive and haughty manner.

Dogmatic The dogmatic

teacher would not let anyone question his statements.

Synonyms: arrogant, snobbyAntonyms: nice, humbleDerivatives: dogmatically, dogmatism, dogmatist

Epiphany (noun)

To suddenly understand a concept.

After reading the book, he had an epiphany about the events leading to the American Revolution.

Synonyms: discovery, uncover, clearAntonyms: confused, blurry, obscureDerivatives: epiphanies

• Adjective

Useless, hopeless, or ineffective

FutileHe tried to resist eating the chocolate cake, but it was futile.

Synonyms: frivolous, empty, unsuccessful, fruitless, unproductiveAntonyms: effective, fruitful, productive, successfulDerivatives: futility

IncessantAdjective

Derivative: incessantly-adverb

Continuing or non-stop

The incessant ringing of his cell phone kept everyone in the office from being able to concentrate.

Synonyms AntonymsUnceasing CeasingContinue discontinueRepeatedly interrupted

Innocuous (Adjective)

• Harmless; innocent The snake looked scary, but it was really

innocuous.Synonyms: kind, safe, painless, inoffensive

Antonyms: offensive, harmful, painful, dangerous, scary

Derivatives:innocuousness – nounInnocuously - adverb

“I am so cute and innocent.”

InsidiousAdjective

Deceitful; working in a hidden but harmful manner

His insidious plan to hide money from his family wasn’t working out so well.

Synonyms: misleading, sly, deceptive, sneaky

Antonyms: fair, honest, sincere

Derivatives: insidiously-adv.Insidiousness-noun

Mitigateverb

To make milder or less severe or painful

The nurse tried to mitigate the suffering of the injured child.

Synonyms – decrease, lessen, relieveAntonyms – worsen, increase, intensifyDerivatives : mitigation - noun

Adjective• Bad tempered, gloomy, sullen• The old man was

known for being extremely morose.

Morose

Synonyms: cranky, grouchy, acrimonious

Antonyms: sweet, nice, happyDerivatives: morosely – adverb

moroseness - noun

Ostentatious - adjective

Done to impress others or to attract attention

The large bags that the shoppers were carrying were incredibly ostentatious.

Synonyms: boastful, showy, flashyAntonyms: obscure, modest, quietDerivatives: ostentatiousness – noun

ostentatiously - adverb

Plausible adjective

Seeming to be true, honest or worth of trust; believable.

Her excuse was plausible, but I still had my doubts.Synonyms: credible, validAntonyms: incredulous, dishonestDerivatives: plausibility – n

plausibly -adv

PrecociousAdj.: Developed or matured earlier than usual

My son’s reading habits are incredibly precocious.

Synonyms: mature, advanced, developedAntonyms: undeveloped, immatureDerivatives: precociously, precociousness

Quiescentadjective

• In a state of inactivity or rest.

• He is in a quiescent frame of mind.

Synonyms: asleep, deactivatedAntonyms: active, rowdy, awakeDerivatives: quiescently, quiescence

Ramificationnoun

• The act or process of dividing; an effect or consequence that results from a situation or statement.

• What are the ramifications of his plan?• Synonyms: result, sequel, consequence, effect• Antonyms: cause, reason• Derivatives: ramifications, ramify

RedundantAdjective

Using more words than necessary to express an idea; wordiness; unnecessary; superfluous.

In an attempt to meet length requirements, the girl’s paper was very redundant.

Synonyms: wordy, overusedAntonyms: essential, necessaryDerivatives: redundancy, redundantly, redundancies

adjective RefutableAble to be proven wrong or false

The written statement was refutable..

Synonyms: deny, disapprove, rebutAntonyms: agree, validate, confirmDerivatives: refute, refutability, refutably

RudimentaryAdjective

Elementary; in the beginning or early stage ofdevelopment; incompletely or imperfectlydeveloped.A penguin hasrudimentary wings.Synonyms: immature, novice, simple, beginnerAntonyms: mature, precocious, developed, preparedDerivatives: rudiment

Sanguineadjective

Cheerful and optimistic; having a red color; ruddy

The man had a very sanguine personality.

Synonyms: enthusiastic, buoyant, livelyAntonyms: pessimistic, moroseDerivatives: sanguinity, sanguineness,

sanguinely

Unscrupulousadjective

Showing no regard for what is right

The unscrupulous businessman cheated

his customers.

Synonyms: unprincipled, unethical, dishonest, questionable, consciencelessAntonyms: principled, moral, ethical, honestDerivatives: unscrupulously, unscrupulousness

Ubiquitous

adjective

being everywhere at once, or seeming to be everywhere at

once

The famous actress was ubiquitous

when she had a new movie coming out.

Synonyms: omnipresent, everywhere, universalAntonyms: rare, scarce, occasionalDerivatives: ubiquitously, ubiquities

Surreptitious adjective

Done by secret or sly means

The secret society had a surreptitious meeting.

Synonyms: sneaky, hidden, obscureAntonyms: truthful, open, obviousDerivatives: surreptitiously, surreptitiousness

Terseadjective

brief and to the point; concise

Her terse reply surprised her friends.

Synonyms: abrupt, compact, concise, condensed Antonyms: lengthy, wordy, longwindedDerivatives: tersely, terseness

Wantonadjective

marked by extreme thoughtlessness or ill will; immoral; not controlled; unruly

At first the student was apathetic, but then she began showing wanton misbehavior.

Synonyms: cruelty, malicious, unjust, inconsiderate, inhumanAntonyms: careful, considerate, restrained, humaneDerivatives: wantonly, wantonness

Zenithnoun

the highest or greatest point

This performance was the zenith of the musician’s career.

Synonyms: climax, peak, crest, crownAntonyms: bottom, nadir, base, floorDerivatives: zenithal

Expediteverbto speed up the process or progress of; to do quickly and efficientlyThe man asked the doctor to expedite the exam because he was in a hurry.

Synonyms: hurry, quicken, rush, accelerateAntonyms: slow, decelerate, inefficientDerivatives: expedited, expedites