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