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