Vocabulary Set – 56

1. Pacify – to placate or appease

Synonyms: allay, ameliorate, assuage, mitigate, mollify, conciliate

Antonyms: aggravate, incite, intensify

Usage: Hopefully the warm bottle of milk will pacify the crying baby.

2. Surreal – appearing as a fantasy or dream

Synonyms: hypnagogic, dreamlike

Antonyms: real

Usage: When I woke up after the surgery, I felt as though I was in a surreal environment because of the anesthesia.

3. Hearken – to listen

Synonyms: apprehend, attend, auscultate, catch, descry, devour, eavesdrop

Antonyms: disregard, ignore, abstain

Usage: Confident and proud, the young man refused to hearken his parents’ advice.

4. Periphery – the outer limits or edge of an area or object.

Synonyms: brink, fringe, perimeter, ambit, boundary, circumference

Antonyms: center, inside, interior, middle

Usage: Several security gates will be placed around the periphery of the new military base.

5. Litany – a lengthy record

Synonyms: catalogue, recitation, repetition, account, enumeration, invocation

Usage: The criminal’s litany of crimes filled a huge folder in the prosecutor’s office.

6. Ludicrous – unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing.

Synonyms: absurd, ridiculous, farcical, laughable, risible, preposterous

Antonyms: sensible, reasonable, tragic, logical,

Usage: It’s ludicrous that I have been fined.

7. Ideational – relating to, or involving ideas or concepts.

Synonyms: abstract, analytical, imaginative, intellectual, philosophical

Antonyms: concrete, ignorant, illogical

Usage: If the people in the small country had suffrage, they would remove the evil leader from power.

8. Semblance – an outward appearance of something; an assumed appearance

Synonyms: pretense, veneer, affinity, alikeness, analogy, aspect, facade

Antonyms: reality, concrete,unlikeness

Usage: Even though I was nervous during my presentation, I tried to project a semblance of calmness while speaking.

9. Tepid – showing little enthusiasm.

Synonyms: apathetic, indifferent, lukewarm, desultory, perfunctory

Antonyms: enthusiastic, passionate

Usage: The play’s premiere received tepid reviews from the disappointed critics.

10. Tumble – fall suddenly

Synonyms: descend, drop, plummet, plunge,  stumble, collapse

Antonyms: ascend, increase, rise,

Usage: She pitched forward, tumbling down the remaining stairs