1. Embezzle – steal or misappropriate
Synonyms: defalcate, misapply, peculate, abstract, purloin
Antonyms: reimburse, compensate, receive
Usage: Four Mysore Sugar employees accused of embezzlement.
2. Venal – showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corrupt.
Synonyms: amoral, dishonourable, unscrupulous, mercenary
Antonyms: ethical, upright, truthful, scrupulous
Usage: Because the mayor was a venal man, he had no problem accepting bribes from real estate developers.
3. Agape – (of a person’s mouth) wide open in surprise or wonder.
Synonyms: astonished, awestruck, confounded, overwhelmed
Antonyms: apathetic, indifferent, unconcerned, unimpressed, unmoved
Usage: Results of assembly elections from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand left millions of Indians agape
4. Extol – praise enthusiastically.
Synonyms: acclaim, commend, eulogize, exalt, glorify
Antonyms: castigate, denounce, humiliate, debase
Usage: I got angry when my mother would extol my brother’s accomplishments and ignore all the good things I did.
5. Enfeeble – make weak or feeble.
Synonyms: debilitate, incapacitate, indispose, prostrate, immobilize
Antonyms: invigorate, refresh, energize,
Usage: Trade unions are in an enfeebled state.
6. Profligacy – reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources.
Synonyms: absurdity, amenity, dissipation, exaggeration, exorbitance
Antonyms: economy, frugality, lack
Usage: After the millionaire saw evidence of his new wife’s profligate spending, he quickly filed for a divorce.
7. Delinquent – tending to commit crime, particularly minor crime.
Synonyms: tardy, derelict, slack, blameworthy, censurable, culpable
Antonyms: behaving, careful, responsible
Usage: Minister orders action against `delinquent’ doctors.
8. Semblance – the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different.
Synonyms: pretence, facade, front, veneer, guise
Antonyms: concrete, difference, dissimilarity
Usage: Even though I was nervous during my presentation, I tried to project a semblance of calmness while speaking.
9. Conundrum – a confusing and difficult problem or question.
Synonyms: enigma, mystery, puzzlement
Antonyms: axiom, explanation, proposition, solution
Usage: Trying to solve this conundrum is really making my head hurt.
10. Crescendo – Gradually increasing in volume, grow louder.
Synonyms: escalation, apex, ascension, crest, culmination
Antonyms: base ,bottom, decline, nadir
Usage: When the man’s pain hit a crescendo, he passed into unconsciousness.