Amnesty ● Noun. A general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution ● In order to gain amnesty in dodgeball, a teammate must catch a ball that the opposing team has thrown.

Autonomy ● Noun. Self-government, political control ● The Death Eaters, from Harry Potter, attempted to gain autonomy from the Ministry of Magic. – Synonym: home rule – Antonyms: dependence, subjection, colonial status

Axiomatic ● Adjective. Self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle or rule ● It is an axiomatic rule of facebook to post your feelings via song lyrics. – Synonyms: taken for granted – Antonyms: questionable, dubious, controversial

Blazon ● Verb. To adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously; to publish or proclaim widely ● My little sister enjoys blazoning her day on her twitter account. – Synonyms: Broadcast, trumpet – Antonyms: hide, conceal, cover up, bury

Caveat ● Noun. A warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding or discourage behavior. ● The well known Latin phrase “caveat emptor” means “Let the buyer beware.” – Synonyms: admonition, word to the wise

Equitable ● Adjective. Fair, just, embodying the principles of justice. ● Zombies are not often equitable about the distribution of their victims' remains. – Synonyms: right, reasonable, evenhanded – Antonyms: unjust, unfair, one-sided, disproportionate

Extricate ● Verb. To free from entanglements or difficulties; to remove with effort ● The criminal could not extricate himself from Spiderman's web. – Synonyms: disentabgle, extract, disengage – Antonyms: enmesh, entangle, involve

Filch ● Verb. To steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts ● She is constantly filching lawn ornaments. – Synonym: pilfer, purloin, swipe

Flout ● Verb. To mock, treat with contempt ● The flautist is often flouting at the pianist for the immobility of their instrument. – Synonyms: scoff at, sneer at, snicker at, scorn – Antonyms: obey, honor, revere, uphold

Fractious ● Adjective. Tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable ● The scurrilous buttinsky was acting very fractious towards the authority figure. – Synonyms: refractory, recalcitrant, peevish – Antonyms: docile, tractable, coorperative

Precept ● Noun. A rule of conduct or action ● Some people don't understand the precept of blinker use. – Synonyms: principle, maxim

Salutary ● Adjective. Beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome ● The cute new puppy had a salutary effect on her health. – Synonyms: salubrious, curative – Antonyms: detrimental, deleterious, pernicious

Scathing ● Adjective. Bitterly severe, withering; causing great harm ● She was too much of a wuss to make her scathing comments to her face, so she resulted to just tweeting about it. – Synonyms: searing, harsh, ferocious, savage – Antonyms: bland, mild

Scourge ● Verb. To whip, punish severely; Noun. A cause of affliction or suffering; a source of severe punishment or criticism ● I often use wit to scourge annoying people. ● Twilight fans are the scourge of mylifeisaverage.com. – Synonyms: (V) flog, beat; (N) bane, plague, pestilence – Antonyms: (N) godsend, boon, blessing

Sepulchral ● Adjective. Funeral, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal ● My sister announced in a severe and sepulchral tone of voice that there was not a new Glee episode this week. – Synonyms: doleful, lugubrious, mortuary

Soporific ● Adjective. Tending to cause sleep, relating to sleepiness or lethargy; Noun. Something that induces sleep ● Her voice, despite her energy, was soporific and that I slept through the whole class. ● Shakespeare's Juliet drinks a soporific so as to appear to be dead—a trick she is soon to regret. – Synonyms: Narcotic, anesthetic – Antonyms: Stimiulant, stimulus

Straitlaced ● Adjective. Extremely strict in regard to moral standards and conduct; prudish, puritanical ● Travelers may find people overseas straitlaced in some ways but surprisingly free in others. – Synonyms: highly conventional, overly strict, stuffy – Antonyms: lax, loose, indulgent, permissive, dissolute

Transient ● Adjective. Lasting only a short time, fleeting; Noun. One who stays only a short time ● His bad mood was transient, and by the time he'd finished his breakfast, he was smiling. ● Many farm hands lived the lives of transients during the Great Depression. – Synonyms: impermanent, ephemeral, evanescent – Antonyms: permanent, imperishable, immortal

Unwieldy ● Adjective. Not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity ● We loaded the truck with the chairs and the coffee table, but the grand piano was too unwieldy. – Synonyms: cumbersome, bulky, clumsy, impractical – Antonyms: manageable, easy to handle

Vapid ● Adjective. Dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force ● While critics called the movie vapid I thought the performers were very compelling. – Synonyms: insipid, lifeless, colorless – Antonyms: zesty, spicy, savory, colorful, lively