Vocabulary Unit 4

1. Vocabulary Unit 4 Mrs. Williams English 9 and 9B

2. abscond (v.) to run off and hide • Synonyms: bolt, make off, skip town • EX • The thieves who absconded with several of the museum’s most valuable paintings have never been found.

3. anarchy (n.) a lack of government and law; confusion • Synonyms: chaos, disorder, turmoil, pandemonium • Antonyms: law and order, peace and quiet • EX • In the final days of a war, civilians may find themselves living in anarchy.

4. arduous (adj.) hard to do, requiring much effort • Synonyms: hard, difficult, laborious, fatiguing • Antonyms: easy, simple, effortless • EX • No matter how carefully you plan for it, moving to a new home is an arduous chore.

5. auspicious (adj.) favorable; fortunate • Synonyms: promising, encouraging, propitious • Antonyms: ill-omened, ominous, sinister • EX • My parents describe the day that they first met as a most auspicious occasion.

6. daunt (v.) to overcome with fear, intimidate; to dishearten, discourage • Synonyms: dismay, cow • Antonyms: encourage, embolden, reassure • EX • Despite all its inherent dangers, space flight did not daunt the Mercury program astronauts.

7. disentangle (v.) to free from tangles or complications • Synonyms: unravel, unwind, unscramble, unsnarl • Antonyms: tangle up, ensnarl, snag • EX • Rescuers worked for hours to disentangle a whale from the fishing net wrapped around its jaws.

8. fated (adj.) determined in advance by destiny or fortune • Synonyms: destined, preordained, doomed • Antonyms: accidental, fortuitous, chance, random • EX • The tragic outcome of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is fated from the play’s very first scene.

9. hoodwink (v.) to mislead by a trick, deceive • Synonyms: dupe, put one over on • Antonyms: undeceive, disabuse, clue in • EX • Many sweepstakes offers hoodwink people into thinking they have already won big prizes.

10. inanimate (adj.) not having life; without energy or spirit • Synonyms: lifeless, dead, inert, spiritless • Antonyms: living, alive, energetic, vigorous, lively, sprightly • EX • Although fossils are inanimate, they hold many clues to life on Earth millions of years ago.

11. incinerate (v.) to burn to ashes • Synonyms: burn up, cremate, reduce to ashes • EX • Because of environmental concerns, many cities and towns no longer incinerate their garbage.

12. pliant (adj.) bending readily; easily influenced • Synonyms: supple, flexible, elastic, plastic • Antonyms: rigid, stiff, inflexible, set in stone • EX • The pliant branches of the sapling sagged but did not break under the weight of the heavy snow.

13. precipice (n.) a very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster • Synonyms: cliff, crag, bluff, promontory, ledge • Antonyms: abyss, chasm, gorge • EX • During the Cuban missile crisis, the world hovered on the precipice of nuclear war.

14. prototype (n.) an original model on which later versions are patterned • Synonyms: example, sample • Antonyms: copy • EX • The assembly line managers studied the prototype of the new car for weeks before production began.

15. rectify (v.) to make right, correct • Synonyms: remedy, set right • Antonyms: mess up, botch, bungle • EX • The senators debated a series of measures designed to rectify the nation’s trade imbalance.

16. reprieve (n.) a temporary relief or delay; (v.) to grant a postponement • Synonyms: (n.) stay, respite, deferral; (v.) postpone, delay • Antonyms: (v.) proceed • EX • A vacation is a kind of reprieve from the cares and responsibilities of everyday life. • A judge may reprieve a first-time offender from jail time until sentencing.