Vocabulary Drill

Chapter Six

abdicating · giving up

abnegation · giving up

abort · end abruptly

abstruse · difficult

abysmal · absolutely wretched

accede · give consent

acclaim · applause

accolades · positive acknowledgments

accosted · attacked

acute · sharp

admonished · scolded

cacophony · harsh noise

cadence · rhythm

calamity · disaster

calculating · scheming

castigating · punish

catalyze · inspire

cherished · appreciated

colossal · huge

combative · warlike

comprehensive · extensive

concocting · creating

condone · excuse

contemplated · thought about

corrective · counteracting

deleterious · detrimental

desolate · barren

disavow · refuse to acknowledge

discombobulated · confused

discomfited · embarrassed and perplexed

disconcerted · confused

disconcerting · upsetting

disheveled · in disarray

drub · trounce

earnest · serious

effrontery · shameless boldness

elude · evade

exacerbate · add to

execrable · detestable

expiate · make amends for

extricating · freeing

flaccid · limp

grievous · grave

hardy · robust

impinge · trespass

incendiary · inflammatory

induce · cause

ingenious · clever

ingenuous · honorable

iniquity · wickedness

insular · isolated

integral · necessary

interjected · interrupted

intractable · difficult

licentious · immoral

linchpin · one that holds a group together

lulled · relaxed

myriad · a great number

ominous · foreboding

oration · speech

ostracize · banish

perfunctory · automatic

pragmatic · sensible

precipice · cliff

querulously · grouchy

redoubtable · formidable

relegated · demoted

remedial · special education

reprovingly · with scorn

ribald · offensive or course

salutation · greeting

somnolence · sleepiness

surreptitiously · stealthily

tacit · silently expressed

tantamount · equal

truncated · shortened

unrelenting · nonstop

vexed · annoyed

vicissitudes · fluctuations

wan · sickly

wistful · dreamy

wretched · extremely bad