1. Antithesis: a direct opposite; a contrast Ascend: to move upward; rise from a lower station Austere: strict; stern; unadorned; unembellished autonomous: independent, self-contained banal: common, ordinary, lacking freshness, benign: not causing harm, beneficial capricious: changing suddenly, fickle dawdle: to waste time, to spend time idly, defamation: act of harming or ruining another's reputation esoteric: understood only by a small group or a select few exacerbate: to aggravate, to irritate, to vex extol: to praise, to glorify

2. fastidious: reflecting a meticulous or demanding attitude, critical to an extreme furtive: secret in an underhanded way, stealthy gregarious: sociable and outgoing hypocrite: one who is insincere or deceitful innate: existing from birth, inborn lethargic: sluggish, languid melancholy: depression of spirits opaque: not allowing the passage of light, not transparent, hard to understand prolific: abundantly fruitful, marked by a great productivity reprove: to scold or to rebuke for a misdeed usually with kindly intent symmetry: balanced proportions tranquil: peaceful, calm venerate: to honor, to revere 

3. (noun ) Direct opposite; contrast The antithesis of peace is war.

4. To move upward; rise above—(verb) My grades are currently in the dumps; I sure hope they ascend soon.

5. Strict; stern; unadorned—(adj) The Puritan lifestyle was austere compared to most periods of culture and literature.

6.  Independent-(adj) The teen longed to be autonomous from her parents and couldn’t wait until she could drive by herself.

7.  Plain; ordinary; not fresh; hackneyed or cliched  Make sure the essay you write for college is not banal; no one wants to read about how you would be an “asset” to the school.

8.  Innocuous; not harmful  We were so relieved to hear that her tumor was benign.

9.  Changing suddenly; fickle  The capricious girl had two dates to the homecoming dance and rejected both guys at the last minute.

10.  To waste time; spend time idly (verb)  Don’t dawdle when you leave the room with a pass to go to the restroom.

11.  The act of harming or disparaging another’s reputation (noun) The actress sued the Inquirer magazine for defamation of character after it doctored photos of her from her teen years.

12.  Understood by only a select few She liked to read about esoteric subjects so that she could impress her friends.

13.  To make worse; to worsen; to aggravate The problems with the economy were exacerbated by the falling house prices.

14.  To praise; laud (verb)  The health benefits of exercise are widely extolled.

15.  Particular; fussy about details (adj)  We hired Martha to clean, because she was the most fastidious, and we could count on her to make things immaculate.

16.  Sneaky (adj)  I prefer dogs to cats, because cats can be quite furtive when they are in the house.

17.  Social; affable; outgoing—  You have to be gregarious in your first year of college if you want to meet friends.

18.  Duplicitous; two- faced; says one thing but does the other The expression “the pot calling the kettle black” refers to someone who is hypocritical by calling someone out for lying or doing something wrong, when he is in fact doing the same thing or worse.

19.  In-born; natural  Her artistic ability is innate; her parents are artists as well.

20.  Lazy; slow; fatigued  This flu has left me feeling so lethargic, it is an effort to walk.

21.  Sadness; despair; state of lament His melancholy mood was evident by the way she dressed in dark, baggy clothing.

22.  Transparent (adj)  Many people decorate the windows or doors of their homes with stained glass or other forms of opaque screening so that light gets in but the view is obscured.

23.  Abundant; copious; productive  Shakespeare is one of the most prolific writers in English literature.

24.  To scold; castigate; criticize  His mother reproved him for leaving dishes in the sink.

25.  State of balance  Symmetry in our landscape, our writing, and our furnishings engenders a feeling of peace and balance.

26.  Quiet; taciturn  The tranquil serenity of the ocean was disrupted by the loud group of motorcyclists.

27.  To honor; revere We venerate the heroes of the past and study their accomplishment s.