1. 12 Vocabulary Unit 3

2. Acrid Adjective Harshly pungent Synonym: yucky

3. Acrid The cheese we had at the party had an acrid taste; it was harsh and unpleasant.

4. Acrid Abigail's eyes were watering from the acrid smoke pouring out of the toaster.

5. Aesthetic This word is an adjective; that means it describes something The word means: having to do with artistic beauty Synonym: artistic

6. Aesthetic Everyone else thought that the painting was ugly; however, I thought it had aesthetic beauty.

7. Aesthetic Max stopped while hiking to admire the aesthetic beauty of the mountains.

8. Antipathy Noun Firm dislike; a dislike Synonym: hostility

9. Antipathy I feel antipathy towards bananas wrapped in ham; therefore, I do not want to eat them for dinner. I also feel a certain amount of antipathy for the cook who keeps trying to make me eat them.

10. Antipathy Jane felt a great deal of antipathy towards reading until she actually picked up a book and read it. Now she loves reading.

11. Appropriate Verb To take without permission; to set aside for a particular use Synonym: to take and use

12. Appropriate My sister often appropriated my car for her own use even though I paid for it myself.

13. Appropriate The CEO appropriated millions of dollars for technological research.

14. Autocratic Adjective Ruling with absolute authority; extremely bossy Synonym: dictatorial (like a dictator)

15. Autocratic The ruthless dictator’s autocratic reign ended when the rebels blew up his palace with explosives.

16. Autocratic Two year olds can be very autocratic-they want what they want when they want it.

17. Choleric Adjective Hot-tempered; quick to anger Synonym: grumpy

18. Choleric The choleric watchdog would sink his teeth into anyone who came within biting distance of his doghouse.

19. Choleric When the grumpy old man was in one of his choleric moods, the children refused to go near him.

20. Complement Verb To complete or fill up; to be the perfect counterpart Synonym: to go perfectly with Note: This word is often confused with compliment, which means to praise.

21. Complement The flower arrangement complemented the table decorations.

22. Complement Some people believe that nothing complements a chocolate chip cookie like a glass of milk.

23. Contiguous Adjective Side by side; adjoining Synonym: next to each other

24. Contiguous Since the two lakes are contiguous, they seem to flow into each other.

25. Contiguous The escaped prisoner found it easy to cross the border of the two contiguous states.

26. Conventional Adjective Common; customary; unexceptional Synonym: ordinary

27. Conventional The architect’s conventional designs didn’t win him awards for originality.

28. Conventional Most people clean their floors with a mop, but Karen chose a less conventional method.

29. Criterion Noun A standard; basis for judgement Synonym: requirement

30. Criterion In choosing among the linemen, the most important criterion was quickness.

31. Criterion The main criterion for joining the country club is one’s ability to pay the sizable annual fee.

32. Dubious Adjective Doubtful; uncertain Synonym: doubtful

33. Dubious The teacher was dubious of Johnny’s homework excuse.

34. Dubious The suspect’s alibi seemed dubious to the police.

35. Enervate Verb To reduce the strength or energy of, especially to do so gradually Synonym: to weaken

36. Enervate Alex felt enervated by his long ordeal and couldn’t make himself get out of bed.

37. Enervate If the hurricane comes near the city, the winds may enervate the flood walls and cause them to crumble.

38. Evanescent Adjective Fleeting; vanishing; happening for only the briefest period Synonym: fleeting

39. Evanescent Even though April seemed interested in taking piano lessons now, her mother knew her interest was only evanescent and would soon disappear.

40. Evanescent Rainbows are evanescent because they do not stay around for long periods of time.

41. Flagrant Adjective Shocking; outstandingly bad; conspicuously or obviously offensive Synonym: really bad

42. Flagrant Stealing money from the register was such a flagrant violation of work policies that Jen should not have been surprised that she was fired.

43. Flagrant The basketball player committed a flagrant foul and was kicked out of the game.

44. Insipid Adjective Dull; bland Synonym: boring

45. Insipid We were bored at the party; it was full of insipid people making insipid conversation.

46. Insipid The thin soup was so insipid that all the spices in the world could not have made it interesting.

47. Lethargy Noun Sluggishness; laziness; drowsiness; indifference Synonym: sluggishness

48. Lethargy After a busy week of sports, homework, and work, the student relished the lethargy of Saturday morning.

49. Lethargy The lethargy of the staff caused what should have been a quick errand to expand into a full day’s work.

50. Mercurial Adjective Emotionally unpredictable; rapidly changing in mood Synonym: unpredictable

51. Mercurial Mercurial Helen was crying one minute and laughing the next.

52. Mercurial Many sports fans are mercurial and show very little loyalty to their favorite teams.

53. Platitude Noun A dull or trite remark; a cliché Synonym: a cliché

54. Platitude The principal thinks he is a great orator, but his loud, boring speech was full of platitudes.

55. Platitude Instead of giving us any real insight into the situation, the lecturer threw platitudes at us for the entire period.

56. Propitious Adjective Marked by favorable signs or conditions Synonym: favorable

57. Propitious Rush hour is not a propitious time to drive into the city.

58. Propitious The early negotiations had been so propitious that no one was surprised when a new contract was announced well before the strike deadline.

59. Stymie Verb To thwart; to get in the way of; to hinder Synonym: to prevent

60. Stymie